Australian flutist Catherine Gregory, winner of the Pro Musicis International Award, enjoys a dynamic career as a soloist, ensemble player, teaching artist and creative collaborator. Her performances of both new and old music have taken her across the globe from Alice Tully Hall in New York, to London’s Milton Court, Hamburg’s new Elbphilharmonie, and the Sydney Opera House. The New York Times has called her playing “magically mysterious,” also writing that “Ms. Gregory left a deep impression… her sound rich and fully present.” Committed to nurturing the next generation of young artists, Catherine has served as visiting Flute Lecturer at Lawrence University in Wisconsin, and has given masterclasses and residencies at top music schools all over the world, from The Tianjin Juilliard School, to Curtis, Eastman and the Guildhall School in London. Catherine currently serves on the faculties of The Colburn School and the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, where she has developed a new course helping students to become “artistic citizens,” strategizing how to integrate their artistic practice within real communities. Catherine Gregory released her debut album together with pianist David Kaplan, entitled Vent, on the Bright Shiny Things label in September 2023.
Dr. Frane earned his Ph.D. in psychology, with an emphasis in cognitive neuroscience, from the University of California, Los Angeles. His published research addresses various topics, including statistical methodology and the perception of rhythms in music. He is especially interested in how music, and other emotive auditory information, is cogni8vely and emo8onally experienced. In addi8on to his scientific work, Dr. Frane has also composed and produced music for film and audiobook soundtracks.
Ray Greene is known for his work as a producer and director on seasons three through nine of Penn & Teller: Fool Us, and as producer/director of the documentaries The Wedge: Dynasty, Tragedy, Legacy (2014), Vampira and Me (2012) and Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies (2001). Mr. Greene is a multi-award-winning journalist and radio producer, known for creating and hosting approximately 100 broadcast segments for NPR and Southern California Public Radio. Greene’s book “Hollywood Migraine: The Inside Story of a Decade in Film,” about American cinema in the 1990s, was an L.A. Times Bestseller. He has served as a writer, editor and media director on numerous museum installations, including for the Images of Singapore Museum on Sentosa Island, Singapore; the Adler Planetarium in Chicago USA; and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois. Greene has been an adjunct professor of media for the School of Film and Television Studies at Loyola Marymount University since 2002. Greene holds an MFA in Cinema and Television Production, awarded by the School of Cinema and Television Studies at USC.
One of today’s leading wind players, Eugene Izotov was appointed principal oboist of the San Francisco Symphony by Michael Tilson Thomas in 2014. He previously served as the principal oboist of the Chicago Symphony, appointed by Daniel Barenboim, principal oboist of the Metropolitan Opera, appointed by James Levine, and as guest principal oboist with the Boston Symphony and New York Philharmonic. Izotov has appeared over 70 times as soloist with Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Metropolitan Opera, Pacific Music Festival, and Kansas City Symphony Orchestra, and has collaborated with Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Muti, Valery Gergiev, Nicholas McGegan, Edo De Waart, and Ton Koopman performing works by Mozart, Strauss, Marcello, Haydn, Martinů, Vivaldi, Carter, Hummel, Krommer, and Bach. Eugene Izotov has recorded for Sony Classical, BMG, Boston Records, Elektra, SFSMedia, CSOResond, and was a featured soloist with the Chicago Symphony under the baton of John Williams on the Oscar-nominated recording for Steven Spielberg’s film Lincoln. He has also recently been a guest soloist on NPR’s Live from Here with Chris Thile. Eugene Izotov has collaborated with Yefim Bronfman, Pinchas Zukerman, Jamie Laredo, Yo Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, André Watts, Itzhak Perlman, and the Tokyo String Quartet. Izotov teaches at the Colburn Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory, Pacific Music Festival (Japan), and at the Music Academy of the West. He has previously served on the faculty of The Juilliard School and DePaul University. One of today’s most active teachers, he presents master classes at conservatories across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia including Juilliard, Cleveland Institute of Music, New World Symphony, Oberlin, Aspen, Manhattan School of Music, Verbier Festival, Glenn Gould School, McGill University, Domaine Forget, HuyndaI Center (Korea), Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Lynn University, and Interlochen Center for the Arts. Born in Moscow, Russia, Izotov studied at the Gnesin School of Music. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from Boston University, where he continued his education after immigrating to the United States in 1991.
Dr. Andrea Thabet is a historian, writer, researcher, and historic preservation consultant specializing in Los Angeles, urban, and public history. Dr. Thabet holds an M.A. and PhD in U.S. History from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her published works on Los Angeles and urban history have appeared in both print and digital formats, including “’From Sagebrush to Symphony’: Negotiating the Hollywood Bowl and the Future of Los Angeles, 1918-1926” (Pacific Historical Review). Dr. Thabet has taught courses on the Civil Rights Movement, America in the 1960s, and 20th Century American History, most recently at Caltech in Pasadena, and U.C. Santa Barbara. She currently serves as Co-Coordinator for the L.A. History & Metro Studies Group, a research group based at the Huntington Library, and she is revising a book manuscript, Culture as Urban Renewal: Postwar Los Angeles and the Remaking of Public Space.
Eleanor Núñez is a Spanish-American conductor, pianist, and educator currently based in Southern California. She had her international debut in August 2022 with the Orquesta Sinfónica de la Ciudad de Asunción in Asunción, Paraguay, where she conducted Piano Concerto No. 2 in f minor by F. Chopin with soloist Chiara D’Odorico as well as the debut of Symphony No. I by the prolific composer Daniel Luzko.
Eleanor programs unique concerts that bridge the gap between the audience and musicians on stage. Her belief that music should be accessible to all shines through her creative repertoire programming, enthusiastic rehearsals, and inviting concert environment. Musically, Eleanor loves exploring “the classics” and pairing them with new, modern works. Her conducting experience spans orchestral, wind ensemble, and choral repertoires since she enjoys working with musical groups of all disciplines and genres.
Eleanor graduated from California State University Fullerton with a Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting and a Bachelors of Music in Piano Performance.
Pianist John Gilmour is an active chamber musician, collaborative pianist, and educator. He has taught piano since his undergraduate studies at Temple University. Drawing upon extensive study of the Taubman Approach and Alexander Technique, John is interested in a holistic, fully embodied approach to music-making that enables students to uncover and nurture their innate musicality. He has a special interest in guiding the beginning piano student to develop healthy technique and build a strong musical foundation.
For five years, John served on the accompanying staff at Scripps College, where he regularly performed alongside faculty and students and accompanied the choirs. He was a founding teaching artist of Sister Cities Girlchoir, the El Sistema-inspired choral academy in Philadelphia. John holds a masters degree in collaborative piano from the University of California, Irvine, where he was a fellowship student of Nina Scolnik. Prior to moving to California he studied with Susan Nowicki in Philadelphia. Currently he is pursuing the Dalcroze Eurythmics Teaching Certificate, for which he has received grant support from the Dalcroze Society of America and MTNA. He has taught piano at the Claremont Community School of Music since 2018 and joined the piano faculty at the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts in 2023.
As an educator with a creative practice, Georgia Bell fosters curiosity and creative thinking in the classroom. She is a teacher, composer, performer, and artist. Bell holds a Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Bard College, where she studied composition with Kyle Gann. She went on to do a postgraduate composition apprenticeship with Bunita Marcus and was Artist-in-Residence at California Institute of the Arts in 2019. Bell hosts a quarterly salon for experimental artists and musicians in Los Angeles and regularly performs and presents work throughout the greater L.A. area and beyond. She has been teaching English and exploring the connections between language, music, and art since 2018. Bell currently teaches English to speakers of other languages at the Colburn Conservatory of Music and Music Academy.
Erin Young is a classical guitarist based in Los Angeles. She received both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Classical Guitar Performance at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music where she studied with Scott Tennant, Brian Head, and Jason Yoshida. Erin has a passion for playing early plucked instruments and has performed with the early music ensemble, Ciaramella, and plays frequently with the Los Angeles based Delirium Musicum ensemble.
Erin is dedicated to her work as an educator. In addition to teaching Suzuki Guitar at the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts, she serves as Director of Elemental Guitar for nonprofit Elemental Music, as a Teaching Artist for the nonprofit Lead Guitar within the Los Angeles Unified School District, and as a Counselor for the annual Guitar Foundation of America Teen Academy The Bridge. She worked in online music education as Head of Guitar at tonebase.co for over two years where she gained experience in production and curricular design, and spearheaded the development of curriculum for the international guitar education nonprofit Kithara Project where she worked as Operations and Program Director.
Adrian Dunn is an accomplished singer, composer, and conductor. Mr. Dunn holds a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degree in Voice from the Music Conservatory at Roosevelt University with additional musical studies in opera at the Sibelius Academy of Music in Finland.
In 2021 Mr. Dunn won the American Prize in Composition for “Requiem” from The Mass for the Unarmed Child and was named in the Top 10 Classical Music and Jazz performances of 2021 by the Chicago Tribune. He made his conducting debut with the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra in June 2021. His interview on his original composition The Black Messiah was published in Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy. He and the Adrian Dunn Singers performed the film score for the 2022 Sundance film Honk for Jesus starring Sterling K. Brown (from the NBC show This Is Us) and Regina Hall.
Mr. Dunn is writing his first full length opera, The 42 Project, on the life of Black Major League Baseball star Jackie Robinson. Mr. Dunn’s trilogy cycle Emancipation received its world premiere at the Harris Theater in April 2022 featuring the Adrian Dunn Singers and Rize Orchestra. His composition Requiem was most recently performed by the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and the Morehouse Glee Club in March 2022. He was also the chorus conductor for the Mozart Requiem with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra and was a guest artist in residence at California State University Fullerton.
Mr. Dunn is a MacArthur grant recipient for his original work Hopera: A Hip Hop Opera. He has opened for international hip hop recording artist The Roots at Indiana University. He served as principal vocal coach for Kanye West’s artist development program, Donda’s House. He was a featured artist and vocal coach for the live DVD recording of the Higher Ground Gospel Choir in Helsinki, Finland. He has toured throughout the US, South Africa, Italy, Germany, the UK, and Scandinavia.
Mr. Dunn has sung with the Chicago Symphony Chorus, Grant Park Symphony Chorus, and Blossom Festival Chorus. He was the chorus conductor for the Seven Last Words of the Unarmed by Joel Thompson with the Adrian Dunn Singers at Chicago’s Symphony Center and Wentz Hall in 2019. He was the chorus master for Chicago Opera Theater’s production of Freedom Ride in 2019 and sang in the 2018 production of Moby Dick with Chicago Opera Theater. He was tenor soloist for Handel’s Messiah at Rockefeller Chapel in 2018 and was the tenor soloist for Pucinni’s Messa de Gloria with the Northwestern University Orchestra. He was the tenor soloist for A Child of our Time with the University of Chicago Orchestra in 2019 and was guest artist in residence with the University of Chicago Chorus. In 2019 he was the composer for the Lyric Unlimited Opera education program at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He sung the lead role in the 2017 Chicago premiere of the Paul Laurence Dunbar opera The Poet and in 2016 served as the opera chorus master for the Midwest premiere of the opera Harriet Tubman – When I Crossed That Line to Freedom with the South Shore Opera Company of Chicago.
As an active professional singer, producer, and songwriter, Mr. Dunn has had the privilege of working with gospel greats such as Tremaine Hawkins, Myron Butler, Melonie Daniels, Troy Bright, Lamar Campbell, Damien Sneed, Walt Whitman and the Soul Children of Chicago, Smokie Norful, Jonathan Nelson, and many more. He was awarded Album Producer of the Year for AME Live featuring the AME International Mass Choir from the Rhythm of Gospel Awards. He is a voice faculty member in the Theater Conservatory at Roosevelt University and is the Advisor for Racial Equity and Minority Student Success. Mr. Dunn’s private voice students can be seen in Broadway national tours of Lion King, Ghost, the Color Purple, Hamilton, Kinky Boots, Rent, BET’s show Sunday Best, Drury Lane Theater, the Paramount Theater, Black Ensemble Theater, and as background vocalists for major record label artists on tour throughout the US and abroad.