Eloise Kim, DMA

Praised by Washington Post’s The Columbian as a “musician with great poetic phrasing and poised lyrical nature,” pianist Dr. Eloise Kim is a performing artist and passionate music educator. Kim regularly performs solo and collaborative music across the United States, and has been a featured soloist with the Vancouver Symphony (USA), Jefferson Symphony in Colorado, and the Columbia and Beaverton Symphony Orchestras in Oregon.

Kim has won numerous awards, including grand-prize of the Pinault International Piano Competition where she had her Carnegie Weill Recital Hall debut at age 11, semi-finalist of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, and finalist of the New York International Piano Competition. Kim won top prizes in the Lennox, Kingsville, WPPC (dedicated to Leon Fleisher), and Jefferson Young Artists International piano competitions. In 2014, Kim was a recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Arts Award, one of only 20 young artists in the United States to receive this award of a total of $100,000 scholarship for her graduate studies. She has also been a scholarship recipient of the Chopin National Foundation of the United States, featured young artist at Chamber Music Northwest, and a recipient of the Beaux Arts Society Award in Portland, Oregon.

As an active chamber musician, Kim was one of the six finalist groups of the 2010 International Chamber Music Ensemble Competition where the Kim-Garbot Duo made their first debut at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall. She was also a member of the Areta Piano Trio (2015-17) at Manhattan School of Music. The Areta Piano Trio performed in several outreach concerts together and was also one of the winners of the 2016 Lillian-Fuchs Chamber Music Competition.

Kim has participated and performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Orford Arts Centre, Banff Music Centre, “Art of the Piano” Festival, and the Lake George Chamber Music Festival, studying with renowned instructors including Jean-David Coen, John O’Conor, Lee Kum Sing, Marc Durand, Jacques Rouvier, Robert McDonald, Awadagin Pratt, Yoshikazu Nagai, and Gabriel Kwok.

Dr. Eloise Kim received her DMA at the USC Thornton School of Music studying with Daniel Pollack and was the recipient of the Outstanding Keyboard Departmental Award from the DMA program. Kim was also a Teaching Assistant and Studio TA at the USC Thornton School of Music, instructing group piano classes and individual instruction at the University. She also holds a Bachelor of Music degree at The Colburn Conservatory with Ory Shihor and her Master’s at the Manhattan School of Music with Andre-Michel Schub. At the Manhattan School of Music, Kim graduated with the honorary Helen Cohn Award in recognition as an Outstanding Pianist in Chamber Music 

Dr. Kim is currently a Faculty at the Colburn Conservatory, teaching Keyboard Harmony Skills and also works as a staff pianist at the Colburn Conservatory. Kim maintains a private piano studio in Los Angeles, and serves as CAPMT (California Association of Professional Music Teachers) Vice President of Conferences. Her students have won many local and state competition prizes and honors including MTAC branch, MTNA, and Certificate of Merit exams in California.  

Catherine Gregory

Australian flutist Catherine Gregorywinner 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 Londons Milton Court, Hamburgs 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.

Andrew Frane, PhD

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 H. Greene

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.

Eugene Izotov

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.

Andrea Thabet, PhD

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.

Carrie Kennedy

Carrie Kennedy has been a featured soloist with orchestras throughout the U.S. and has given recitals in 12 states. She is currently a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale Orchestra, Long Beach Symphony, and Pasadena Symphony. As a Baroque violinist, she is also a member of Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra. Pursuing her love for chamber music, Ms. Kennedy founded and continues to perform as the first violinist of the Fiato Quartet since 2008. In addition to the concert stage, Ms. Kennedy records music for television, motion pictures, and records on sound stages throughout Los Angeles. She has appeared with popular artists such as Pentatonix, Andrea Bocelli, Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Sarah Bareilles, and Earth Wind and Fire. 

Ms. Kennedy holds a Masters degree in violin performance from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where she studied with Pamela Frank and Ani Kavafian, and a BM from the University of Southern California with Robert Lipsett. During her studies, she won numerous awards including 1st place in the National Federation of Music Clubs Young Artists Competition with two years of concert engagements and 1st place in the American String Teachers Association Competition. She spent her summers studying at Tanglewood, and abroad in masterclasses with Herman Krebbers, Zakhar Bron, and Gyorgy Pauk. 

She is a member of the American String Teachers’ Association, the Suzuki Association of the Americas, and the Music Teachers Association of California, through which she offers the Certificate of Merit program. She has taken Suzuki teacher training with Sherry Cadow, Liz Arbus, Rick Mooney, Judy Offman, Peggy Ann Crow, Michele Higa George, Cathryn Lee and Charles Krigbaum. In addition to the Colburn School, Carrie teaches with the Pasadena Suzuki Music Program. 

Carrie lives in Altadena, CA with her husband and fellow violinist, Joel Pargman, and her adorable Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Ginger Rogers. 

Ben Ullery

Praised by the Chicago Tribune for his “febrile intensity,” violist Ben Ullery enjoys a multifaceted performing career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral leader and educator.

In 2023 he was chosen by Music Director Gustavo Dudamel for the position of Associate Principal Viola of the LA Philharmonic and previously held the position of Assistant Principal in the same orchestra since 2012.  In addition to his appearances with the LA Phil, Ullery has performed across the country and abroad in the role of Guest Principal Viola with the Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Australian Chamber Orchestra.

An active solo performer, he has recently given recitals at Festival Mozaic and La Sierra University where he premiered his own arrangement for viola of Brahms’ Violin Sonata No. 1.  Ullery is currently planning his first full-length duo album with acclaimed pianist Dominic Cheli which will feature works of Paul Hindemith, Rebecca Clarke, and Lillian Fuchs.

As a chamber musician, he has been in high demand in the Los Angeles area and at festivals and concert series in the US and Europe.  In addition to having performed over 50 chamber works on the LA Phil’s chamber music series in Walt Disney Concert Hall, Ullery has appeared at the Mozaic, Music in the Vineyards, Mainly Mozart, Emerald City, Music at Millford, Leksand, Grand Teton, and Aspen festivals, among others.  He has been featured on NPR’s Performance Today as well as local broadcasts on KUSC in Los Angeles and Minnesota Public Radio.  As a recording artist, he has been featured on releases on the Bridge and Albany record labels.

An enthusiastic teacher, Ullery is on the teaching faculty at the Colburn School in downtown Los Angeles where he teaches orchestral repertoire as well as coaching the Colburn Orchestra’s viola section.  Many of his former students have gone on to hold positions with top orchestras in the US, Europe, and Asia.  He has given masterclasses at the Aspen Music Festival, California State University Fullerton, Azusa Pacific University, and the Shanghai Orchestra Academy.

A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, Ullery earned a Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance from the Oberlin Conservatory, and later studied violin at New England Conservatory and viola at the Colburn School

Brandon J. Rolle, PhD

Drawing on psychoacoustics, sonology, and computer programming, Brandon J. Rolle’s compositions engage interdisciplinary methods and technologies in order to realize the deeply-immersive sound worlds that define his music. Brandon has studied and worked with some of the century’s most groundbreaking composers, including Clarence Barlow, Pauline Oliveros, and Roscoe Mitchell; he holds a Master’s Degree from Mills College and a PhD from the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 2017, Rolle moved to Los Angeles, where he works as a freelance composer. Brandon has given masterclasses and lectures on his music at universities across the United States, and has taught undergraduate and graduate courses at UC Santa Barbara, Cal State University Northridge, Chapman University, and at the Colburn School Conservatory of Music where he is Music Theory & Ear Training Faculty.

Brandon’s musical work and research have been supported through commissions, grants, and awards, including from the Borchard Foundation, New Music USA, the University of California, Synchromy, and the Hear Now Festival. Giovanni Albini’s 2021 recording of “Afterward” on A Contemporary Ukulele (Da Vinci Classics) was called “a work of considerable imaginative power” that “really shows off the instrument (and player) to the greatest musical effect” (Musicweb-International). Brandon’s upcoming projects include his forthcoming debut album, Glitch Portraiture, which is being released by Arpaviva Recordings through the support of the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, a commission for the electronics to Joel Feigin’s new opera, Outcast at the Gate, and a new audio-video collaboration with artist Christopher Richmond for the Hear Now Festival in Los Angeles. Rolle’s musical catalog includes orchestral, chamber, electro-acoustic, and intermedia music, which have been performed at festivals and concerts of new music across the United States and Europe.

As a conductor and ensemble coach, Brandon is passionate about supporting new works by living composers. He has premiered numerous compositions by his colleagues, including at ArtShare LA, as Resident Conductor of the 2020 Black House New Music Workshop at Oh My Ears! Festival, and as the director of a major concert of new works by algorithmic music pioneer, Clarence Barlow, at the Roy and Edna Disney Cal Arts Theater (REDCAT) in Los Angeles in 2017. While Composition Associate at UC Santa Barbara, Brandon guest conducted the Ensemble for Contemporary Music, worked with the orchestra, coached jazz ensembles, and was the director of an orchestral reading of new works by doctoral composition students.

Outside of his creative work, Dr. Rolle is a committed advocate for the arts. In 2019, he co-founded the Impulse New Music Festival, a nonprofit organization that supports talented early-career composers through creative training, professional development opportunities, and career mentorship. Under his guidance as Artistic Director, the festival has grown to include a faculty of Los Angeles’ top artists to teach and mentor participants, programs including workshops, lessons, readings, performances, recordings, and mini-grants, and the commissioning of more than 40 new works from emerging artists. He has worked with other L.A.-based organizations as well, including as Modern Music Writer at NewClassic.LA, and as part of the teams at Equal Sound and Brightwork New Music. In January 2023, Rolle joined the acclaimed contemporary piano series, Piano Spheres, as Associate Director.

Aaron Tindall

With his orchestral playing praised as “a rock-solid foundation” and his solo playing described as being “remarkable for both its solid power and its delicacy,” Aaron Tindall is the principal tubist of the Naples Philharmonic and the Sarasota Orchestra. Many of his students have obtained prestigious playing positions with top professional orchestras and premier military bands.

With his orchestral playing praised as “a rock-solid foundation” and his solo playing described as being “remarkable for both its solid power and its delicacy,” Aaron Tindall is the principal tubist of the Naples Philharmonic, Sarasota Orchestra, and the associate professor of tuba and euphonium at the Frost School of Music, University of Miami. In the summers he teaches and performs at the Festival Napa Valley in Napa, CA and at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, NC, where he also serves as Principal Tuba with the EMF Festival Orchestra under the direction of Gerard Schwarz.

Mr. Tindall has previously served as the acting principal tubist of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, held the principal tuba position with the Aspen Festival Orchestra where he was an orchestral fellow, and has collaborated as guest tubist with orchestras such as the Teatro alla Scala Opera and Ballet Orchestra (Milan, Italy), Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (Australia), Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra (Kennedy Center), New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Utah Symphony.

He is a frequent soloist, guest artist/clinician, and orchestral tubist throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. He has been featured at all of the International Tuba and Euphonium Conferences since 2006, performed in England with the National Champion Grimethorpe Colliery Brass Band, and his solo playing has been heard on NPR’s Performance Today. Mr. Tindall has been a prizewinner of many solo and chamber competitions across the world. He has also been a two-time finalist in the prestigious Concert Artist Guild Competition and released four highly acclaimed solo recordings; Yellowbird (solo tuba and jazz piano trio), Transformations (winner of the International Tuba Euphonium Association’s Roger Bobo Excellence in Recording Award, and winner of two 2017 Global Music Awards), This is My House… (awarded two 2015 Global Music Awards), and Songs of Ascent. His fifth album, At the Ballet, featuring the music of Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky will be recorded and released on the Bridge Record Label in 2023.

Many of Mr. Tindall’s students have obtained prestigious playing positions with the top professional orchestras in the USA and Canada and also in the premier military bands in Washington D.C. His students have won positions with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Florida Orchestra, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic, United States Navy Band, United States Air Force Band and Ceremonial Band, and the West Point Band. They are also frequent prizewinners at various national and international solo and chamber music competitions. His students have won Yamaha Young Performing Artists Awards, the Annual Leonard Falcone Artist Tuba and Euphonium Solo Competition, and the ITEA solo, mock orchestral, and military band competitions.

Mr. Tindall is an International Yamaha Performing Artist and a Denis Wick (London) artist and design specialist, having recently designed their complete Ultra Range AT signature series tuba mouthpieces.