JOHN CARROLL
John Carroll studied trumpet with Austyn R. Edwards, Ray Makeever and Ron Modell in High School. He obtained a B.M. in Trumpet Performance and a Performer’s Certificate from Indiana University where he studied with Louis Davidson and Charles Gorham. John’s interest in jazz placed him as lead trumpet in David Baker’s Jazz Ensemble at I.U., a position held for eight consecutive semesters. Other teachers include Armando Ghitalla (as a member of the Tanglewood Fellowship Orchestra), Thomas Stevens (while attending the Music Academy of the West), and Larry Schmidt. John received his Master of Music degree in conducting from the University of Texas at San Antonio in May of 2007 and is on sabbatical leave from the symphony during the 2007-2008 season to begin a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Texas at Austin campus.

Mr. Carroll was previously principal trumpet of the Boston Opera, third/assistant first trumpet of the Springfield Symphony , and fourth/utility trumpet of the Detroit Symphony. He has also played principal trumpet with the Columbus Symphony, the Sunriver Music Festival Orchestra and the Cactus Pear Music Festival. He is the trumpet instructor at St. Mary’s University and instructor of all brass instruments at Our Lady of the Lake University. He also has created and conducts Brass Ensembles at both institutions and the Jazz Ensemble at Our Lady of the Lake University.

Mr. Carroll is a founding member and Executive Director of the San Antonio Brass, Inc., a musical organization dedicated to the preservation of brass performance and literature.

John’s other interests include composing, recording and the use of the computer in making music. A collector of instruments (over 3,000) he owns 77 vintage cornets, hundreds of mouthpieces and an untold number of trumpets.

AMRA CATOVIC
Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Amra Catovic began playing the flute in Ottawa, Canada at the age of 9 with The National Capital Suzuki School of Music. In 1997, she moved with her family to Dallas, TX where she continued her musical studies with Debra Johnson at the Suzuki Institute of Music and performed with the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra. Amra received her Bachelor of Music Performance from Southern Methodist University where she studied with Jean Larson and Debbie Barron. Amra has performed with the Meadows Symphony Orchestra and the Meadows Wind Ensemble and at the Flute Inferno masterclass series under Claire Johnson and Terri Sundberg. Amra currently teaches flute at Bowie High School and freelances in the Austin area.

GRAEME FRANCIS
Born in 1981, Graeme Francis is a native of Prince Edward Island, Canada. He received his undergraduate degree in music education from the University of Western Ontario, in London, Ontario, a Masters in Percussion Performance at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and
recently completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Texas at Austin. His percussion instructors include D. Jill Ball, Dr. Thomas Burritt, Doug Howard, Kalman Cherry, Ed Smith, Tony Edwards, and Brannen Temple. He has performed with the Austin Symphony, the San Antonio Symphony, the Mid-Texas Symphony, the Prince Edward Island Symphony, the Rome Festival Orchestra, and with a multitude of chamber ensembles. His musical activities encompass a wide variety of music from orchestral to jazz to world percussion. Graeme has made recordings for both the Gasparo and Naxos labels.  Dr. Francis is on the Austin Chamber Music Center teaching/performing faculty and has held the position of Lecturer in Percussion at the University of Texas at San Antonio since 2006.

KARLA HAMELIN
Dr. Karla Hamelin holds a D.M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin, an M.M. from the University of Michigan and a B.M. and B.M.U.S. from the University of Manitoba. Dr. Hamelin is an active performer, coach and teacher who especially enjoys performing solo recitals, chamber music and new music. Highly sought-after as a private teacher in the Central Texas area, she is the Assistant Cello Professor at both Concordia University Texas and Texas Lutheran University. Since moving to Austin, she has been on the faculty of the Austin Chamber Music Center, The University of Texas String Project, International Music Camp, Longhorn Music Camp and was a teaching assistant to Phyllis Young while at The University of Texas at Austin. Karla is a featured performer in the monthly Bach Cantata series at the Blanton Museum of Art, and plays regularly with the San Antonio, Waco, Temple and Mid-Texas Symphony Orchestras. Most recently, Karla has become a member of the College of Examiners and an adjudicator for the Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada. An avid runner, Karla enjoys training for and running marathons.

YU-HSUAN LIAO
A native of Taipei, Taiwan, Yu-Hsuan Liao received her Masters and Doctoral Degrees of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from University of Texas at Austin under Professor Danielle Martin, Dr. Dariusz Pawlas, and Professor Gregory Allen. She began her musical studies in Tung-Hai University, Taichung, Taiwan, receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1999. Yu-Hsuan’s accomplishments include performance and participation in master classes in Tung-Hai International summer festivals, and attending the International Piano Festival in New York City.  Yu-Hsuan has expanded her repertoire in instrumental, chamber, vocal and choral music in various styles and periods and currently is an accompanist for UT Austin Department of Theatre and Dance and Ballet Austin.  

AURELIEN PETILLOT
French Violist Aurélien Pétillot, is the founder and artistic director of Viola by Choice, a concert series whose blend of conviviality and artistry passionately showcases the viola while debunking fears and stereotypes associated with classical music. He has enjoyed a growing reputation as a versatile and engaging performer and teacher. He holds a Bachelor's in musicology and performance from the Sorbonne University of Paris, a Master's from the Mannes College the New School for Music, in New York, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Pétillot has been a faculty artist with the Austin Chamber Music Center since 2000. He also teaches at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and maintains a successful private studio. Dr. Petillot plays regularly with the Austin, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestras, as well as with the Austin Lyric Opera. For more info, checkout: www.myspace.com/opus147

ALICE WANG
With a career including solo and ensemble performances in Belgium, New York City, Sweden, Los Angeles and Taiwan, clarinetist Alice Wang’s playing has been described as “incredible [with] fast and intricate finger work.”  She has recently completed her Doctorate of Musical Arts in Clarinet at the University of Texas at Austin with Prof. Richard MacDowell.  Previous teachers have also included Yehuda Gilad and Mitchell Lurie at the University of Southern California, as well as Sir Walter Boeykens at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Antwerpe.  In 2000, Dr. Wang was invited by the Royal Conservatory of Music in Stockholm to be a resident guest artist.  Other highlights of her career include a solo concerto performance with the Texas Festival Orchestra and collaborating in a European concert tour to promote awareness of Asian cultures.  Dr. Wang will be the Assistant Professor of Clarinet at Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio beginning this August.  

REUBEN ALLRED
Reuben Allred, M.M., received both his Masters and Bachelors degrees in Piano Performance from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was awarded scholarship and a teaching assistantship.  Through the course of both degrees, Reuben studied under Professor Gregory Allen, and was also selected to perform in master classes with such teachers as Leon Fleischer, John Perry, Paul Badura-Skoda, and Nelita Tru.  Reuben has extensive performance experience in both contemporary and modern styles, performing in numerous solo, chamber, and new music concerts.  As a pianist for the UT Austin New Music Ensemble (2003-2006), he worked with composers such as George Crumb and James MacMillan, as well as premiering many student compositions.  This fall, Reuben will pursue a D.M.A. at the University of North Texas under the tutelage of Dr. Pamela Mia Paul.

ELIZABETH PETILLOT
Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Pétillot is enjoying a growing reputation as an engaging, impassioned, and intelligent performer of music ranging from opera, operetta, and musical theater to art song, oratorio and early music. Some recent performances have included alto soloist for J.S. Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium with the St. David’s Baroque Orchestra, featured soloist with the Austin Chamber Music Center and her debut with The Living Opera of Dallas, TX in The Pirates of Penzance where she was praised as having “played the role of the put-upon Ruth to the hilt” (Dallas Morning News). Her upcoming engagements include a lecture recital on the life and songs of Dmitri Shostakovich at Trinity University of San Antonio, TX and a tour to Denmark and Norway with the Grammy nominated chamber choir Conspirare. Elizabeth can be seen performing throughout Texas and regionally with organizations such as The Austin Lyric Opera, Conspirare chamber choir, The Texas Early Music Project, the San Antonio Chamber Choir, The Santa Fe Desert Chorale and the Oregon Bach Festival under the direction of Maestro Hemuth Rilling. In addition to her performing career Elizabeth also maintains a private home studio as well as teaching in an Austin area high school. She speaks Italian and French fluently and is in the process of completing her DMA in vocal performance at the University of Texas at Austin where she studies with Prof. Rose Taylor.

MICHELLE SCHUMANN
Michelle Schumann is a highly sought-after solo and collaborative pianist. She performs with many professional ensembles, including the Austin Symphony Orchestra, Austin Lyric Opera, Ballet Austin, and the Austin Chamber Music Festival, and also performs regularly in piano quintent, quartet, trio and duo recitals. She is pianist and founding member of the Vega Piano Quintet. Ms. Schumann has performed concertos with orchestras in Austin, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Calgary. She is also the pianist of the Austin-based tango ensemble, "Tosca," which specializes in contemporary music written in the Nuevo Tango style. Ms. Schumann has served on faculty at Mount Royal College Conservatory (Calgary, Alberta) and has held teaching assistantships at the University of Calgary and University of Texas at Austin, where she respectively received her bachelor and master degrees with distinction. Additionally, she has served as opera coach and repititeur at the Austin Lyric Opera, and the Austrian American Mozart Academy in Salzburg, Austria. Michelle was awarded the Billy Joel Fellowship at the Tanglewood Music Center, where she studied chamber music and solo piano with Emanuel Ax, Robert Mann, Ursula Oppens and Peter Serkin. Additionally, she was invited to perform during the Bach Cantata Seminar and the Festival of Contemporary Music at Tanglewood. Other festivals that Ms. Schumann has performed at include the Banff Festival of Music and Sound, the International Institute of Music in Munich, Germany, the Victoria International Festival, the Bartok International Congress, and the Ausitn Chamber Music Festival. Ms. Schumann completed a doctorate at The University of Texas at Austin under the esteemed tutelage of Gregory Allen and Anton Nel.

Photo by Luke Savinksy

TOSCA STRING QUARTET

Leigh Mahoney and Tracy Seeger, violin
Ames Asbell, viola
Sara Nelson, cello

Since 1997 the Tosca String Quartet has built an international reputation by collaborating with renowned artists from a variety of genres. Whether it's tango with Tosca Tango Orchestra, swing with Erik and the She-Wolves, rock with Tosca Strings or classical music, their dynamic interaction onstage has become a trademark of their live music performances. The Tosca String Quartet has performed and/or recorded with national artists Ray Benson, Willie Nelson, John Cale, Alejandro Escovedo, Lyle Lovett, Ray Price, Ian Moore, Double Trouble, Friends of Dean Martinez, Shawn Colvin, Austin favorite Bob Schneider, and Russell Crowe's band "Thirty odd Foot of Grunts." They also appear on the Dixie Chicks' Grammy-winning album, "Home." The quartet has a long-standing relationship with the Golden Hornet Project, which brings together local musicians and gives first-time composers the opportunity to have their works performed by a professional ensemble. They recently collaborated with Terry Bozzio (of Missing Persons and Frank Zappa fame) in a live performance of Terry's original music, some of which was composed expressly for the quartet. They plan to continue working together both in the studio and onstage.

Tosca String Quartet, photo by Todd V. Wolfson

LEANNE ZACHARIAS
Canadian cellist Leanne Zacharias’ diverse musical life has been compared to extreme sport—from soloist with baroque orchestra Tafelmusik, apprentice with Montreal’s Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, finalist in the Coleman Chamber Music Competition, substitute in the Houston Symphony, artist-in-residence at the Banff Centre for Arts to new music director on campus radio, she collaborates with musicians of all stripes, composers, choreographers, architects, painters, poets, video artists, leads canoe trips + volunteers with the Sierra Club. With songwriter Christine Fellows she has toured the continent + created original music for BRAVO, CBC, Trip Dance, the Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers + four albums on Six Shooter Records. Armed with a Masters degree from Rice University, Ms. Zacharias landed in Austin in 2005 to pursue an experimental doctoral program at UT.  Her performance project Music for Spaces explores intimacy in art music through unorthodox venues + unlikely collaborations.