Villa-Lobos International Chamber Music Festival

Artists

• Lars Hoefs, artistic director, cello

  American cellist Lars Hoefs, professor of cello and music history at Sao Paulo State University in Campinas (Unicamp), performs in Brazil, the United States, and Europe. 2015 highlights included solo performances with the Collegium Musicum Orchestra in Berlin, recitals in Poland, appearances in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, the Ipalpiti Festival at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and numerous solo performances throughout Brazil. At Unicamp, Lars leads a cello ensemble of his students that tours regularly, and will release the album “Violoncelos sem Fronteiras” in 2016.

  Lars has established himself as a leading expert on the cello repertoire of Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. He was the first cellist to perform together in one program the complete works for cello and orchestra by Villa-Lobos with the Orquestra Sinfonica da Unicamp. In 2012 he was invited to perform Villa-Lobos’ complete works for cello and piano at the 50th annual Festival Villa-Lobos in Rio de Janeiro. In January of 2015 Lars was artistic director of the first Villa-Lobos International Chamber Music Festival at the University of California in Riverside, presenting 10 concerts in Riverside and Los Angeles and premiering composer Paulo C. Chagas’ monumental cycle “Gravity and Grace, Mobiles I-III.”

  As soloist in Brazil, Lars has performed concerti with the Amazonas Filarmonica in Manaus; the symphony orchestras of Barra Mansa, Braganca Paulista, Nova Odessa, and Sorocaba; youth orchestras in Salvador (NEOJIBA), Campos do Jordao, Piracicaba and Rio de Janeiro (OSB Jovem); and notably the South American premiere of Korngold’s Cello Concerto with the Orquestra Sinfonica Municipal of Campinas and Maestro Victor Hugo Toro. Lars is a frequent guest at the Rio International Cello Encounters and the Festival Virtuosi in Recife, and in 2009, Lars spent the year as co-principal cellist of the Orquestra Sinfonica Brasileira in Rio de Janeiro under conductor Roberto Minczuk.

  Originally from Appleton, Wisconsin, Lars earned his high school diploma at the North Carolina School of the Arts, a Bachelors from Northwestern University studying with Hans Jorgen Jensen, and both Masters and Doctorate degrees from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles where he studied with former Los Angeles Philharmonic principal cellist Ronald Leonard.

• Paulo C. Chagas, composer-in-residence

  Paulo C. Chagas is Professor of Composition at the University of California, Riverside. A very versatile composer, Chagas has written over 140 works for orchestra, chamber music, electroacoustic music, audiovisual and multimedia compositions. His music unfolds a pluralistic aesthetic, using the most diverse musical materials from different cultures, acoustic and digital media, dance, video, and audiovisual installations. His works have resulted from numerous commissions and fellowships and have been performed in Germany, France, Belgium, Holland, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Czech Republic, Swiss, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Serbia, Croatia, Romania, South Korea, the USA, and Latin America to public and critical acclaim.

  The creative manipulation of electronic and digital sound and the integration of music into multimedia forms is a significant aspect of Chagas’ work. As he states: “My compositions make extensive use of technology while seeking to understand the ways of thinking that lie behind technology by making it transparent. In accordance with Heidegger, I believe that “the more questioningly we ponder the essence of technology, the more mysterious the essence of art becomes.” The pursuit of the humanistic endeavor and the ascent of man as a spiritual being is at the core of my aesthetics that emphasizes the human, symbolic and ritualistic dimension of music.”

  Chagas is also a prolific author of articles on musical semiotics, electroacoustic and digital music. His most recent book Unsayable Music (Leuven University Press, 2014) presents theoretical, critical and analytical reflections on contemporary music creativity. The six essays of the book approach music from different perspectives such as philosophy, sociology, cybernetics, musical semiotics, media, and critical studies.

• Bridget Dolkas, violin

  Bridget Dolkas, Principal Second Violin of the Pacific Symphony, enjoys life as an innovative musician of the 21st century. 2013 saw her first endeavor as co-writer and director of a ground-breaking and “frighteningly funny” mash-up music video, “Frite of Spring” (check it out on youtube!). Bridget performs with the newly formed chamber ensemble, Renga, which recently performed at the 2014 Ojai Festival. Also in 2014, Bridget performed in the inaugural season of the Villa-Lobos International Chamber Music Festival. As first violinist and founding member of the California Quartet, she co-founded the critically acclaimed Connections Chamber Music Series, of which Tim Mangan of the Orange County Register wrote, “a worthy series”. Bridget rocks out in the jazz-classical fusion band, the Peter Sprague Consort, an intriguing ensemble combining string quartet and jazz trio- and always a favorite at the Idyllwild Jazz Festival. Since the year 2000, Ms. Dolkas has performed with the California Quartet in Europe and the United States to great acclaim, and has performed world-wide since the age of ten. In recent years, she has performed as soloist with the Pacific Symphony, South Coast Chamber Orchestra, and Poway Symphony. As a chamber musician, she performs regularly on Pacific Symphony’s chamber music series, Café Ludwig, and has shared the stage with such greats as Mark O’Connor, Orli Shaham, Peter Sprague, and Paul Katz. Ms. Dolkas performed for eight years in the San Diego Symphony and the San Diego Opera Orchestra. Studying chamber music under such masters as Joseph Silverstein, Kim Kashkashian, Fred Sherry, Toby Appel, as well as the Juilliard, Alexander, and Miro Quartets, has made a tremendous musical impact on Ms. Dolkas. As a student of Alice Schoenfeld, she earned her BM degree at the University of Southern California, where she was awarded Chamber Musician of the Year. Continuing her studies with Isaac Malkin, she completed an MM degree from the Manhattan School of Music. She neared completion of a DMA degree from UCLA, where she studied with Mark Kaplan. Ms. Dolkas performs on a cherished 1798 Lupot violin.

• Steven Vanhauwaert, piano

  A native of Belgium, Steven Vanhauwaert made his official U.S. solo debut with a recital for the Jacaranda series, where he was hailed by the Los Angeles Times’ Mark Swed for his ‘impressive clarity, sense of structure and monster technique.” Since then, Mr. Vanhauwaert has appeared in solo recitals at the world’s leading venues such as the Concertgebouw in Brugge, Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa, Bovard Auditorium in Los Angeles, the Singel in Antwerp, the Great Hall of the Brussels Conservatory, the Great Hall of the Budapest Liszt Conservatory, as well as numerous other prestigious venues in Bulgaria, Hungary, the US, the Netherlands, France, Brazil, Canada, Israel, the UK, Austria, and Spain. He frequently tours China, where he received great critical acclaim for his solo recitals at the renowned National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, and many other venues in Quingdao, Suzhou, Wuxi, Nanning, Nanjing, Dalian, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Guiyang, and Jinan. He has appeared with orchestras such as the Pacific Symphony, the Flemish Symphony, the Oak Ridge Symphony, the USC Symphony, the Bryan Symphony, Collegium Instrumentale, the Concord Jazz Ensemble, the Auburn Symphony, the Eastern Sierra Chamber Orchestra, the Peninsula Symphony, and Prima la Musica, amongst others.

  Mr. Vanhauwaert is passionate about discovering the less familiar jewels of the classical repertoire and sharing them with his audiences. He has given the West Coast premiere of Messiaen’s Fantaisie for violin and piano at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, and the US premiere of Eric Tanguy’s Piano Trio. He also frequently collaborates with today’s leading composers. This season he presented a recital with works by Busoni, Casella, Pratella, Ornstein, and Lourié at the Concertgebouw in Bruges as part of their happening on the ‘fascination and fear of noise’. He was invited for a residency at New York University in Abu Dhabi, for recitals, masterclasses, and a multimedia project based on the works by Teresienstadt composer Viktor Ullmann, including his melodrama on Rilke’s Cornet poem, and the monumental 7th piano sonata. He also made his debut for the acclaimed PianoSpheres concert series in Disney Hall’s Redcat Auditorium, with a daring program consisting exclusively of 20th and 21st century Etudes for the piano, including two special commissions by composers Eric Tanguy, and Veronika Krausas.

  Mr. Vanhauwaert enjoys collaborating with other musicians and is a frequent guest at chamber music festivals worldwide. He is the recipient of the Maurice Lefranc award, the Rotary Prize, the Galiot Prize, the USC Concerto Competition, and the Grand Prize at the 2004 Los Angeles International Liszt Competition.

  His discography includes a solo album with works by Schumann, Schubert, Liszt, Chopin, and Debussy; two 4hand-discs featuring arrangements of Stravinsky’s popular ballets Petrushka and the Le Sacre du Printemps, as well as works by Satie, Ravel, Poulenc and Casella (with his 4handsLA partner Danny Holt), and a disc with works by L.A.-based Lior Rosner for Bridge Records. Along with violinist Guillaume Sutre and harpist Kyunghee Kim-Sutre, he recorded a disc on Sonarti Records with works by Joseph Woelfl, which received a rave review and 5 diapasons in the french magazine Diapason. The album Pensées Intimes for Editions Hortus, featuring works by Hans Pfitzner, Lili Boulanger, Georges Antoine, and a world premiere recording of the Gallipoli Sonata by the Australian composer F.S. Kelly along with violinist Guillaume Sutre, received great acclaim from On-Mag, and Crescendo Magazine, and also received 5 diapasons in Diapason. A solo disc with works by works by Schulhoff, Casella, Hindemith, Vierne, and a world premiere recording of the piano sonata by Raymond Moulaert will be released on Editions Hortus in March 2016.

  Many of Mr. Vanhauwaert’s performances have been broadcast live on networks such as K-MZT, K-CSN, K-USC, K-PFK, W-HKB, W-UOT, K-UAT, W-FMT, RTBF, WTV, PBS, and KLARA. He will also be featured in a documentary on creativity for the German/French channel ARTE. He is frequently invited to give guest lecture recitals and masterclasses in universities throughout the world. Mr. Vanhauwaert is a Steinway Artist.

• Peter Sprague, composer/jazz guitar

  Peter Sprague was born in Cleveland, Ohio and was raised in Colorado until 1963, when his family moved to Del Mar, California. Inspired by his father's love of jazz, he took up the guitar when he was twelve. By the age of fifteen he was devoting all his time and energy to learning music.

  Following a year's study at the Interlochen Arts Academy, Sprague studied privately and performed around the San Diego area until 1976. That year found him moving to Boston to study with many notable musicians including Pat Metheny, Madame Chaloff and Albin Czak (who taught Peter classical guitar). Peter returned to San Diego in 1978 and formed his ground breaking jazz group The Dance of the Universe Orchestra.

  At the age of 20 Peter started recording his own albums on the Concord Jazz and Xanadu record labels. He has been a guest artist on many other records and performed and toured with Chick Corea, Hubert Laws, Dianne Reeves, David Benoit, Sergio Mendes and many others. On his debut with the Chick Corea band for a series of concerts at Disneyland noted Los Angeles Times jazz critic wrote in a review the following day "Peter Sprague is one of the emergent great guitarists." Peter also worked with Chick on the film score to the movie The Cat Chasers, starring actress Kelly McGillis.

  From 1990 to 1993 Sprague taught music at both California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles and the Musicians Institute in Hollywood. He continues to teach every summer at the annual UCSD Jazz Camp in La Jolla, CA.

  Peter was involved with the legendary record label GRP Records on a number of projects. He arranged Chick Corea's song "Spain" for the GRP All-Star Big Band record and video. This performance featured Randy Brecker, Lee Ritenour, Dave Weckl, Ernie Watts among many other jazz legends. Peter was featured on David Benoit's GRP releases Letter To Evan and Shaken, Not Stirred. Also on GRP Records, Sprague played on Eric Marienthal’s recording One Touch featuring Russell Ferrante, Jimmy Haslip, Alex Acuna, and Ivan Lins.

  Peter has been the recipient of many awards: His CD Blurring the Edges won the Best Contemporary Jazz Recording of 1994 from the San Diego Music Awards (SDMA); Best Jazz Musician of the Year in 2000 by the SDMA; The San Diego Reader voted Peter the Best Jazz Group for the 2002 Best Of issue; 2004 Best Jazz Artist of the year by the SDMA; In 2006 Peter was the Honored Musician at the Museum of Making Music’s Evening of Note; 2007 Best Jazz Artist of the year by the SDMA; In 2000 his CD Nikki's Rose was nominated for the Best Jazz CD by the SDMA; In 2003 his CD Pass The Drum was nominated for CD of the Year by the SDMA.

  Peter has been the recipient of many grants and commissions, (San Diego Symphony, Chamber Music America etc.) and has published eleven music books (The Sprague Technique, Brazil Jazz Songbook, etc.)

  Peter is also the chief organizer and transcriber for Chick Corea's music books published with Hal Leonard Publishing. Peter records at his own studio in Encinitas, Spragueland.

• Prisma Trio

  The Prisma Trio was formed in 2015 in the chamber music class of Professor Lars Hoefs at Sao Paulo State University, Campinas, Brazil. They have performed throughout the state of Sao Paulo – at the Conservatório de Tatuí as part of the IV Semana de Musica de Camara; at the Casa de Lago and the auditorium of the Instituto de Artes at Unicamp; at the Academia Campineira de Letras e Artes in Campinas, among others.

  Violinist Isabella Carvalho Marques began her musical studies at the Escola de Música Eleazar de Carvalho in Itu with professor Fernando Henrique Andrade. Since 2012 she has been enrolled in undergraduate studies in violin at UNICAMP in the class of Esdras Rodrigues. She has performed in the Orquestra Filarmônica de Itu, the Camerata Enarmônicos and the Orquestra Sinfônica da UNICAMP. She participated in various festivals in Itu, Fortaleza (2012), Brasília (2015) and Campos do Jordão (2015) working with teachers such as Alexandre Casado, Elisa Fukuda, Claudio Micheletti, Luiz Amato e Tânia Camargo Guarnieri.

  Cellist Ana Clara Ferreira Alves began her studies in the Projeto Guri de Jaguariúna and in 2011 graduated in cello from the Conservatório Carlos Gomes de Campinas, as student of Lara Ziggiati and André Micheletti. Since 2012 she has been pursuing a bachelor degree in cello at UNICAMP studying with Lars Hoefs. Ana participated in festivals such as the Festival de Música nas Montanhas (2009), Festival de Ourinhos (2010), Festival de Musica Erudita de Piracicaba (2011/12), Festival de Campos do Jordão (2013) and FEMUSC – Festival de Musica de Santa Catarina (2014/15). Currently she is cellist in the Orquestra Sinfônica de Limeira.

  Pianist Viviane Sayão began studies in Piracicaba and in 2010 graduated in piano from the Conservatório de Tatuí in the class of Professor Carlos Roberto Moraes. Since 2012 she has pursued a Bachelors in piano at UNICAMP under the orientation of Professor Mauricy Martin. Viviane participated in encounters, masterclasses and festivals of piano in Tatuí, Piracicaba, Campinas and São Paulo, with teachers from Brasil, USA, France, Chile and Germany. In 2015 she participated in the Backa Palanka Piano Festival in Serbia, where she played in recitals and in masterclasses for teachers from Serbia, Russia and the USA.

• California Quartet

  Since its formation in the year 2000, the California Quartet has grown to become a beloved member of the chamber music community. In particular, the quartet is noted for their spirited interpretations, lyric style, and charisma on-stage and off.

  Passionate and personable, the members of the California Quartet create a living connection between performer, composer, and audience through thoughtfully rendered musical interpretations and audience interaction. While the CQ embraces traditional quartet repertoire, they also seek to build audience appreciation and understanding of more modern works as well. This commitment to bringing new and interesting ideas to audiences has led to commissions of new works, world-premiere performances, and designing an interactive chamber music series, “Connections”, which began its inaugural season in January, 2010. The series is co-founded by their friend and colleague, composer Matthew Tommasini.

  The quartet has performed to great acclaim at numerous festivals including the Great Lakes Music Festival, the Laguna Beach Chamber Music Festival, the Lake Tahoe Music Festival, the Juilliard, Muir, and Chilingirian Quartet Seminars, the Yehudi Menuhin Chamber Music Seminar, and the Banff Career Residency Program. In addition, the California Quartet has been awarded finalist or semi-finalist positions in the Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition, Vittorio Gui International Chamber Music Competition in Italy, the Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York, and the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.

  The artists of the California Quartet perform in numerous professional ensembles, often in principal positions, including the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, and their individual musical experiences have been interesting and diverse. Comprised of artists of great individuality and dynamic artistic backgrounds, the members of the California Quartet have joined musical forces and found a single point of inspiration in which to blend their talents. With energetic intensity and musical sincerity, the California Quartet continues to delight audiences everywhere they perform.

• Karl Pasch, clarinet

  Karl Pasch is principal clarinetist with the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, and is active as a chamber musician, conductor, and composer. He has performed concert tours with the Blue Rose Trio in California and Alaska, and was a featured guest artist at the Virtuosi Festival in Recife, Brazil.

  After winning a Rasmussen Artist Grant, he toured in Brazil and released a live CD of South American chamber music.

  Karl has conducted with the Anchorage Civic Orchestra, the Anchorage Ballet, the Anchorage Concert Chorus, and Anchorage Theatre Orchestra. He also performs with the Damberg Latin Jazz Quintet, and the gypsy jazz group the Hot Club of Nunaka.

• Mark Robson, piano

  Mark Robson has been hailed by the Los Angeles Times as a performer with a “monster technique”, “an inquiring mind” and a pianist for whom everything he “touched sparkled”; he continues to impress with his multi-faceted career as a soloist, chamber musician and teacher. Mr. Robson is equally comfortable in styles ranging from early music that he performs on the harpsichord and organ to the great Romantic repertoire and beyond to contemporary piano works demanding theatrical participation from the performer. He is also a highly respected collaborative artist with singers and instrumentalists. As a founding member of the Los Angeles-based series Piano Spheres, he presents recitals devoted to new and rarely played music and has frequently played on the Jacaranda series in Santa Monica, CA. In his capacity as an organist he has played at Disney Hall on the Green Umbrella series and in the ‘Minimalist Jukebox’, as well as assuming the organ part for Mahler’s 8th Symphony at the Hollywood Bowl.

  After completing conservatory and university training, Mr. Robson amplified his musical studies by studying in Paris where he was a pupil of Yvonne Loriod and subsequently Alain Motard. While in France he also studied the Ondes Martenot with Jeanne Loriod and attended courses at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and the Centre Acanthes of Aix-en Provence. Additional musical evolution came through his work on the music staff of the Los Angeles Opera for fourteen years as an assistant conductor and assistant chorus master. During this time he collaborated with renowned international singers and conductors, gaining further insight into the lyric art. In addition to preparing singers in rehearsal for opera performance, Mr. Robson conducted backstage bandas and choruses, played harpsichord in the pit for Baroque and Classical operas and even performed in the role of pianist Boleslao Lazinski in Giordano’s Fedora. He has also been a musical assistant at the Salzburg and Spoleto (Italy) festivals. As a composer, Robson has been programmed on concerts in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Barcelona and Paris. Two of his orchestral works—Apollo Rising and Christmas Suite—were premiered by the Brentwood-Westwood Symphony. Soprano Patricia Prunty has recorded his song cycle A Child of Air, and the same piece was presented by Sari Gruber at the winter Ravinia Festival. Other compositions include a trio Dances and Dirges for piano, clarinet and cello, Södergran-Dagbok for baritone and piano, numerous songs, Trio Botanica for three bassoons, Ribono shel olam for tenor, cello and organ, and a set of 24 left-hand preludes for the piano.

  The recipient of several scholarships and awards (including the Certificate of Excellence from the Corvina Cultural Circle for artistic contributions to Hungary), Mark Robson has received degrees from the University of Southern California and Oberlin College; included among his teachers are Lydia Frumkin, John Perry, James Bonn and Alain Motard. He has worked as a vocal coach on the faculties of USC, Cal State Fullerton, Chapman University and the California Institute of the Arts. Two of his large-scale music projects have been the performance of the complete Beethoven sonatas and multiple performances of Messiaen’s great piano cycle Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus. Mr. Robson is also a proud 2012 graduate of the comedy improv program at Bang Studio in Los Angeles.

• Dana Zimbric, conductor

  Dana Zimbric has been Artistic Director and conductor of the California Chamber Orchestra since 2010. She brings a fresh, creative approach to programming and bonds with audiences of all ages through her warm, friendly stage presence.

  An accomplished clarinetist, Dana holds a Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance and a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Wisconsin. In addition to her work with the California Chamber Orchestra, she is also Music Director of San Diego’s Classics Philharmonic Orchestra, where she leads an ensemble of professional musicians performing educational programs for San Diego area students.

  Dana’s past conducting experience includes positions with the San Diego Youth Symphony, Avanti Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Nova San Diego, and the University of Wisconsin Chamber and Symphony Orchestras.

  Dana, her husband Mike, and daughters Elsa and Ivy make their home in San Diego.

• Marek Żebrowski, composer

  Marek Żebrowski began studying piano at the age of five. After graduating with the highest honors from the Poznań Music Lyceum, he studied with Robert Casadesus and Nadia Boulanger in France and Russell Sherman at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he received his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees. Hailed as “firm and eminently musical” by the Boston Globe, “strong and noble” by the Washington Post, and accorded highest accolades by the world press, Marek Żebrowski has appeared as soloist in recital and with symphony orchestras throughout the world. He has recorded works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Scriabin and Prokofiev for the Polish Radio and works by Ravel and Prokofiev for Apollo Records in Germany, and his performances and compositions are featured on the Titanic Records and Harmonia Mundi labels. Recognized as a composer with a catalogue of orchestral and chamber works, piano compositions and transcriptions, and film and stage scores, Mr. Żebrowski has received commissions from Meet the Composer and The New England String Quartet, among others, as well as composition prizes in the Netherlands. Mr. Żebrowski's works were premiered throughout the United States, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, and South Africa. For the past several years he has collaborated with director David Lynch and their album of free improvisations, Polish Night Music, was released in April of 2008.

  Marek Żebrowski has lectured for the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Harvard University, and The New England Conservatory of Music, and for several years was a contributing writer for the Boston Book Review. He has given master classes and has coached various chamber music ensembles and chamber orchestras. His academic career included teaching at the University of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and UCLA. Currently, Mr. Żebrowski resides in Los Angeles and serves as the Program Director for the Polish Music Center at USC and the Artistic Director of the Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles, California.

  Marek Żebrowski is a Steinway Artist. He authored Celebrating Chopin & Paderewski, Paderewski in California and several other books about film directors and cinematographers, published by the Tumult Foundation. The 2007 recipient of the Silver Gloria Artis medal from Poland’s Minister of Culture and National Heritage, in 2011 Mr. Żebrowski was recognized with the Telly Award for his score to a documentary film, The Labyrinth and awarded the Golden Cross of Merit by the President of Poland. In April 2012, together with Lech Wałęsa and Professor Władysław Bartoszewski, Marek Żebrowski was honored by TV Polonia with the Award for the Promotion of Poland and Polish Culture abroad.

• Robyn Gardenhire, choreographer

  Artistic Director of the City Ballet of Los Angeles, Robyn Gardenhire, a native Angeleno, began dancing at a small school in Compton, California. By chance she was able to audition for the then Los Angeles Ballet's Jr. company and received a scholarship to study at the school. It was there that the doors to a professional career opened. Receiving scholarships and studying at American Ballet Theater School, San Francisco Ballet and New York Ballet, she gained her first contract with Joffrey II and danced at City Center and Jacobs Pillow. Robyn joined Cleveland Ballet soon after under the direction of Dennis Nahat and had original works developed on her as well as performing such principal roles as Choleric from Balanchine's Four Temperaments, Arabian Princes from Nutcracker, and Russian Girl in Serenade. Joining avant-garde choreographer Karlo Armitag she toured all of Europe. At the request of Mikhail Baryshnikov, Robyn joined American Ballet Theater and then his White Oak Project working with choreographers Lar Lubivitch and mark Morris. Ms. Gardenhire was the catalyst in establishing American Ballet Theaters diversity committee that introduces minority children to classical dance through their "Build a Ballet" program and was instrumental in providing many scholarships that where given to minority students to study in the school. After teaching and choreographing throughout the United States and abroad, Ms. Gardenhire returned to Los Angeles and opened the doors to City Ballet of Los Angeles in 2000. Her mission is to create a professional training school that provides full scholarships to students that are economically and socially disadvantaged and a company whose repertoire is a mixture of classical and contemporary dance. A company that can bring the music of J. S. Back and John Coltrane together in one program, and present new stories to this classical art form that nurture and evoke a sense of community to its audience. The Company debut was in 2003 at the Bing Theater.

• Jenny Yeo, piano

  Jenny Yeo, a native of South Korea, immigrated to Brazil at the age of nine and in 2006 she started her graduate studies in the US. She is prizewinner in piano competitions in Korea and Brazil such as the Jon-La province piano competition, Artlivre, Souza Lima and of city of Araçatuba in São Paulo. She holds a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from the University of São Paulo under the instruction of Eduardo Monteiro. Other teachers include Beatriz Balzi and Marisa Lacorte. She has performed in cultural venues in Brazil such as Pinacoteca de São Paulo, Espaço cultural Qum and appeared in solo and chamber music performances in International Music Festival Campos do Jordão and Festival Música nas Montanhas em Poços de Caldas - MG.

  Ms. Yeo received her Master of Music and Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance under the tutelage of Bernadene Blaha at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, where she was an Assistant Lecturer.

  Her passion in teaching resulted in a vast experience in private and group instructions, as well as coaching chamber music. While pursuing strong interest in Music Education, she was part of a research project of Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles in association with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

  Currently she teaches at PianoForte Music Studio in Irvine and maintains a private teaching studio.