Dr. Bryan Emmon Hall

Cello professor at the University of New Mexico since 1999, David Schepps’ career includes concerti in the US and abroad (including the Calgary Philharmonic, Christchurch Chamber Orchestra–New Zealand, Orquesta Sinfonica de Veracruz–Mexico, New Mexico Symphony and Philharmonic, the Santa Fe Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Albuquerque and university and community orchestras throughout the US) and competition prizes in the US and Canada. In summers he plays orchestra and chamber concerts in the internationally acclaimed Grand Teton Music Festival, WY (since 1992). He did solo and chamber broadcasts for National Public Radio's “Performance Today,” solo and chamber recitals at NY’s Lincoln Center Library, Washington DC’s Phillips Collection, in Mexico, Switzerland, Taiwan and England, concerts with the Parker (Grammy winners) and La Catrina string quartets, and recitals throughout the US. He is principal of Opera Southwest (Albuquerque), a member of the New Mexico Philharmonic and Santa Fe Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra (rotating principal). He was principal of the Santa Fe, Wichita and Baton Rouge (acting princ.) Symphonies; assistant principal of Phoenix Symphony; played in L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Geneva, Switzerland), the Colorado, Kansas City and Hawaii Symphonies (acting assistant), Malaysian Philharmonic and Tulsa Symphony (acting principal). Summer work includes the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, principal of Arizona Opera’s Wagner Ring Cycles (4) and Flagstaff Festival of the Arts, and as faculty of the Fairbanks (Alaska) Summer Arts Festival and University of New Mexico's Summer Music Institute. A master class teacher internationally, he studied at New York’s Mannes and Manhattan schools of music, Arizona State University (Doctor of Musical Arts; thesis on Fournier’s interpretations of Beethoven), Banff Centre (Alberta, Canada) and the Yale/Norfolk (Connecticut) chamber festival. His cello teachers include Pierre Fournier, Timothy Eddy, Thomas Liberti (NY Philharmonic), Takayori Atsumi, postgraduate work with Harvey Shapiro and Alan Harris, and master classes with Starker, Nelsova, Harrell and Neikrug. His students have had many successes in competitions, jobs, and continuing cello studies. Schepps produced cello festivals including chamber performances with noted cellists Matt Haimovitz, Wendy Warner, Peter Wiley, Yehuda Hanani, and Laszlo Varga. Previous university appointments were Associate Professor and Fairmount String Quartet member at Wichita State University, and Cello and Bass instructor and faculty piano trio member at the University of Louisiana–Lafayette.

Russian born Eduard Zilberkant is recognized as one of today’s most gifted artists and has an active career as conductor and pianist. A Yamaha performing artist, Eduard Zilberkant has been received enthusiastically by audiences and press alike throughout Europe, Canada, Asia and the United States, performing in such halls as The Academy of Music and Curtis Hall in Philadelphia; Merkin Hall in New York City; Artur Rubinstein Hall and Warsaw Philharmonic Hall in Poland; Teatro di San Carlo Opera House in Naples, Italy; Teatro Sangiorgi in Catania, Sicily; Volgograd Opera House in Russia; and Alaska Center for the Performing Arts in Anchorage.

Eduard Zilberkant has been a guest artist and conductor at some of the most prestigious music festivals which include the International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York City; the Ravello Festival in Italy; the Gumi International Music Festival in South Korea; the Corfu Festival Ionian Concert Series in Greece; the Monolis Kalomiris International Music Festival in Greece; the Assisi International Festival and Orazio Frugoni Music Institute in Italy; the Baracasa Festival of Radio France in Montpellier, France; the Alaska International Piano-e-Competition, Fairbanks, Alaska; and the Bellingham Music Festival in Washington. Some of the orchestras he has guest conducted include the Czech National Symphony Orchestra in Prague and on tour to Germany; the orchestra of Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano in Italy; the Martinu Chamber Orchestra in the Czech Republic and Germany; the Orchestra of the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, Sicily; the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra in New York City; the Teatro di San Carlo Orchestra in Naples, Italy; and the Prague Philharmonic in Prague and Italy.

The Badische Zeitung wrote of his performance of the Dvorak’s “New World Symphony”, “[Maestro Zilberkant] made an impression for feeling the nuances of tempo, pauses, and accents… he brought out new colors and romantic feeling with full balance of the sound from the orchestra.” After his performance of the Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 in Anchorage, Alaska. The Anchorage Daily News wrote: “[Maestro Zilberkant] brought admirable intelligence to his reading of the piece…and sculpting the individual lines into a monumental and heroic structure; his weaving of the finale’s awesome counterpoint show him to be a musician of significance whom we hope to hear again.” American Record Guide stated, “Zilberkant’s artistic approach emphasizes a strongly colored rhetoric, supported by passionate and sensitive temperament…Zilberkant’s pianistic and musical qualities are found not only in his speed, but also in his ability to distill the slow tempos by drawing them out to the extreme.” Radio France, Polish Radio and Television and PBS Radio and Television in the United States have also broadcast his performances. Music critics have asserted that he “possesses a remarkable keyboard mastery; plays in the style of the old romantic masters; he knows how to extract quite a palette of colors from the piano; his playing is subtle and passionate at the same time; he has the equipment that makes for pianist greatness.”

Eduard Zilberkant has been hailed as an inspirational teacher around the world. He has given masterclasses at the International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York City, the Rubinstein Academy in Dusseldorf, Germany; the Puccini Conservatory in Italy; the Gumi International Music Festival in South Korea, and the Ionian Conservatory in Greece. His students have won national and international piano competitions and appear as soloists worldwide.

A Fulbright Scholar in Germany, Eduard Zilberkant received a Solisten Diploma from the Freiburg Musik Hochschule. He received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Temple University in Philadelphia. His teachers have included Jerome Rose, Vitaly Margulis, Theodore Lettvin, Robert Spano and Robert Shaw. Presently, he is Artist in Residence and Professor of Piano at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. For the past fifteen years he has been Music Director and Conductor of the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra and the Arctic Chamber Orchestra.

Violinist Gail Johansen has taught violin, viola and chamber music for 36 years as a studio teacher in Fairbanks. A registered Teacher Trainer with the Suzuki Association of the Americas, she is on the faculties of summer institutes across North America. She is president of the Fairbanks School of Talent Education and directs their Heart of Alaska Strings, a touring ensemble that has performed in Hawaii, New Mexico and Nevada. As Artistic Director of the Fairbanks Suzuki Institute, she received the 2008 SAA “Creating Learning Community” award. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stanford University and Master of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2009 Dr. Johansen was honored to receive the prestigious CIM Alumni Achievement Award.

Dr. Johansen is associate concertmaster of the Fairbanks Symphony and the Arctic Chamber Orchestra and has played with these ensembles for 36 seasons. She is a founding member of the Alaska Chamber Players, performing both violin and viola with this ensemble. Her distinguished students are graduates of the Juilliard School, Cleveland Institute of Music, Shepherd School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory, Meadowmount, and Encore. She has four children, all accomplished musicians who share her love of music.

Bio coming soon!

Born in Ann Arbor, MI, Nathan Lutz is currently the Orchestra Personnel Manager of the Utah Symphony. Prior to moving to Salt Lake City, Lutz was a double bass fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, FL. There Lutz worked with Michael Tilson Thomas and other world renowned conductors. Lutz has a Master’s Degree from Carnegie Mellon University and was awarded a Jacobs Fellowship at Indiana University. He has participated in the National Orchestral Institute, Music Academy of the West, and the Aspen Music Festival. Lutz has performed with the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Utah Symphony, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Janeen Ceparano Wilkins is a performing violinist and violist who completed her Master's and Bachelor’s Degrees of music degree at the Eastman School of Music. Her studies there, in addition to viola performance, involved string pedagogy combined with arts administration. Janeen is the recipient of several awards including the Career Development Grant from the American Association of University Women, the Eubie and Marion Blake Memorial scholarship, the Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship given to artists and musicians studying in Paris, France and the Rochester Chapter LINKS scholarship for African American students of the Eastman School. She is a former faculty member of both the Hochstein Music School and the Eastman Community Music School. She has run her own private music teaching business where she taught students ages 3 through adult for the last 16 years. She performs regularly throughout Anchorage, Alaska and currently teaches Orchestra full time at East Anchorage High School and runs an after school Suzuki program at the Rilke Schule German School of Arts and Sciences. She enjoys Argentinian tango dancing and rock climbing in her spare time.

Violist Maureen Heflinger holds two diplomas from the New England Conservatory of Music where she studied with Marcus Thompson. She currently holds titles of Principal Violist and Chamber Fellow with Symphony Nova. Maureen is the Director of Chamber Music at Josiah Quincy Orchestra Program, teaches viola sectionals at New England Conservatory Preparatory School, and maintains a private studio in Boston.

Hailed by Cincinnati City Beat as “extraordinarily evocative” for his performances and hailed by the Salisbury Post as playing with “great beauty and extraordinary brilliance,” for his Sibelius Violin Concerto, Dr. Bryan Emmon Hall has enjoyed success as both a performer and teacher. Bryan has performed in such venues as the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, and the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, China. He has also appeared as a soloist with the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra, Salisbury Symphony Orchestra, Winston-Salem Piedmont Triad Symphony Orchestra, Austin Civic Orchestra, Central Texas Orchestra, Juneau String Ensemble, Cincinnati Accent Festival Orchestra, and many others. Dr. Hall has performed extensively in the United States and abroad as a chamber, orchestra, violinist, violist, and conductor.

Most recently Bryan Hall has appeared on stage at Seattle University, Seattle Pacific University, Chatter Chamber Series in New Mexico, University of Houston, Western Washington University, Colburn Performing Arts School, Stanford University, South by Southwest Festival in Austin, University of California at Santa Barbara, Gumi, Korea; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Beirut, Lebanon; Erbil, Iraq; Bali, Indonesia; and Pörtschach, Austria. Bryan Hall has performed in the sections of leading professional orchestras including the Austin Symphony Orchestra, Austin Lyric Opera, Round Rock Symphony, Juneau Symphony Orchestra, and the Utah Symphony Orchestra.

Bryan attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts during high school where he studied with Nicholas Mann, Joseph Genualdi, and Kevin Lawrence. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where he studied with Kurt Sassmannshaus. He completed both his Masters and Doctoral degrees at The University of Texas at Austin, Butler School of Music, under the tutelage of Brian Lewis. Other significant teachers at Texas include David Kim and Anne Epperson. Bryan Hall has won numerous awards including Starling Scholarship at UT and CCM, Baur Scholarship Competition, and the Young Texas Rising Stars Competition.

Dr. Hall is a deeply committed teacher who began teaching privately while still in high school. In Cincinnati, he taught violin and school orchestra for numerous elementary, middle, and high schools in the area where he started over 200 new violin students. Bryan has a passion for teaching people of all ages and skill levels. Bryan Hall held the position of Violin Teaching Assistant for the totality of his graduate studies at The University of Texas at Austin. In addition to his collegiate teaching duties, he also taught in the famous UT Austin String Project at the pre-college level. Dr. Hall has been on faculty at numerous summer festivals including Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival (where he is artistic director), Seattle-Japan Suzuki Institute, 6th Asian International Suzuki Institute in Bali Indonesia, Honolulu Suzuki Institute, Fairbanks Suzuki Institute, UAF Summer Academy, UT Austin Longhorn Band Camp, Brian Lewis Young Artist Program in Kansas, American Voices YES Academy (Youth Excellence on Stage) held in Beirut, Lebanon and Erbil, Kurdistan, University of San Jose, Costa Rica Masterclass Series, and the Seattle Young Artist Coleman/ James studio. Bryan also enjoys playing different styles of music in his Persian Classical/ Independent Rock Band called Tehranosaurus that actively tours around the United States and abroad.  

Dr. Hall serves on the faculty of The University of Alaska Fairbanks as the violin/ viola professor and pedagogy coordinator.  Also he is Concertmaster of the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra, conductor of the Northern Lights Symphony Orchestra, and conductor of the Fairbanks Youth Symphony Concert Orchestra. Dr. Hall is president of the Alaska ASTA Chapter 2015-2016.

Cellist Mary Walters lives in Seattle, Washington, and has been teaching cello for over 15 years. She currently maintains a thriving studio with students of all ages and levels in Seattle, and previously taught on the cello faculty at the Music Institute of Chicago. Mary has been a guest clinician at many summer institutes including the Chicago Suzuki Institute, Hawaii Suzuki Workshop, Alaska Cello Intensive, Japan- Seattle Suzuki Institute International, Intermountain Suzuki Institute, Vivace Chamber Players, and as a teaching assistant at the Bowdoin International Music Festival. Mary earned her master’s degree in cello performance and pedagogy from Northern Illinois University and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon Honors College. She has been a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and Northwest Indiana Symphony. Mary has also performed frequently with the Seattle Symphony, and as a recording studio musician she can be heard on Hollywood film, television, commercial, and video game soundtracks worldwide.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, a native of Bourbonnais, Illinois, graduated from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2013, where he earned his degree in Music Education. He has been completing his master's degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has been an active member in orchestras across Illinois and Indiana, including the West-Suburban Symphony, Northbrook Symphony, and Terre Haute Symphony. He has also served as assistant principal cellist for the Classical Symphony Orchestra of Chicago and Indiana University Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, he was the assistant principal cellist for the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and attended the Aspen Music Festival. Currently, he is the principal cellist of the Fairbanks Symphony. His notable teachers have included Emilio Colón, Marc Coppey, Helga Winold, Richard Aaron, and Daniel McDonough of the Jupiter String Quartet. ​

Programs Mr. Fitzpatrick has taught in include the Indiana University Young Winds Band Program, Indiana University Pre-College String Academy, and the Indiana University Fairview Violin Project under the direction of ASTA president, Dr. Brenda Brenner. From January to May of 2013, Mr. Fitzpatrick taught at both Concord Junior High and High School in Elkhart, Indiana, and at the Assumption Senior Girls' National School in Walkinstown, Ireland. He was the Orchestra Director at Limestone Middle School in Herscher, Illinois, and is currently teaching cello and music education and performs with the Alaska Trio at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Cellist Michele Jeglum has taught in the public schools and as a private studio teacher for the past twenty years. She currently operates a private cello studio in Fairbanks, Alaska, teaching the Suzuki method to students from age 3 to adult. She has been involved with the Fairbanks Youth Orchestras as conductor of both the String Orchestra and the Concert Orchestra, coached chamber music, and has served as conductor and cello instructor at the University of Alaska Summer Music Academy.

She holds a Master of Music degree from Boston University and a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Montana. Michele has been a cellist with the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra, the Arctic Chamber Orchestra, and the Opera Fairbanks Orchestra. She is the past state president of the American String Teachers Association, and currently serves on the state ASTA board, she is Vice President of the board of the Fairbanks School of Talent Education.

Michele is dedicated to the Suzuki method; she is not only a Suzuki cello instructor but also a mother of two Suzuki graduates. She continues to maintain and broaden her Suzuki training at institutes throughout the United States.

Trevor Adams is a composer, violist, and music educator with a Bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. During his time at UAF he has played with The Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra, The Arctic Chamber Orchestra, The Northern Lights String Orchestra, Opera Fairbanks, and Fairbanks Light Opera Theater. He has been an intern for the UAF String Fling and was the former coach of the North Star Strings. He is a current member of the newly formed Nanook String Quartet which recently performed Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major. In February, 2015, he put on a recital of his own compositions in which he conducted and performed in, and in May, 2015, his original score for The Muse was premiered at UAF’s “Thaw Out Film Festival”. Trevor has attended the 2013 American String Teachers Association National Conference in Providence, Rhode Island, the 2012 and 2014 Alaska Music Educators Association Conferences, and attended the 2014 Fairbanks Suzuki Institute while taking the Violin/Viola Book 1 training course. In both the 2011- 2012 and 2014-2015 academic years, Trevor received the Most Outstanding Music Major Award from the College of Liberal Arts for his hard work and dedication to the program. Currently, he is the orchestra director at West Valley High School and teaches the FYO String Orchestra.

Nanook String Quartet: Rose Crelli and Annalisa Taylor, Violins Trevor Adams, Viola Sean Braendel, Cello