Virtual Artist Partnerships Program Artists
2021-2022

Che Buford

Che Buford is a violinist and composer originally from Brooklyn, NY. Che has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Joe’s Pub, and The Kimmel Center. His music has been performed by groups and artist such as NY Phil, Tilt Brass, Mimi Stillman, and more. Recent accolades include being the youngest winner of Eugene Opera’s 2020 Call for Scores and 1st place winner of Abundant Silences Art Song Composers Competition. Che will be a rising senior at Boston Conservatory at Berklee where he is the Presidential Scholar. When Che isn’t interacting with music, he enjoys taking long walks, cooking vegan food, and thrifting.

Eliana Echeverry 

Eliana Echeverry is colombian composer, arranger and producer. She loves cycling and hiking, good books and nice conversations. She is kind of a nerdie and she makes jokes all the time. Her favorite writer right now is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and lately, she listens to Björk (a lot!). Also, she loves chocolate and coffee. 

She studied composition and orchestration at Conservatory of National University of  Colombia under the guidance of Gustavo Parra and Moises Bertran. Also, she studied  psychology at National University of Colombia. During 4 years was composition  assistant and arranger of Antonio Arnedo, her mentor in jazz music. She studied master  profile in karnatic music at the Conservatory von Amsterdam and she is studying MMus  Composition at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance sponsored by the Bank  of the Republic of Colombia as 2020 Young Talent Scholarship recipient. 

Eliana is one of the most versatile composers and arrangers in Colombia. She has  arranged music for several artists in different styles such as Antonio Arnedo (jazz),  Hugo Candelario (Colombian music), Lucía Pulido, Laura y la Máquina de Escribir  (rock), Aterciopelados, N – Hardem (hip hop), Juanes, Monsieur Periné, Bogota Symphonic Orchestra, Bogota Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Olav Roots, Unitas  Ensemble based in Boston, among other projects. Eliana´s works have been performed  in Colombia, U.S., Canada, Netherlands and China. 

Currently she is composer in residency of Sergio Arboleda University big bands of jazz  program in Bogota, Colombia. One of the main focus of Eliana´s work is the inclusion of Latin-American traditional  music in her classical and jazz compositions, and she has been invited to artistic 

Seo Yoon Soyoona Kim

Seo Yoon Soyoona Kim is a composer based in Baltimore, raised in Korea and Russia. Seo Yoon loves observing nature, listening to all kinds of stories, and telling her reflections on them through music. Seo Yoon’s compositions have been performed at 2019 Longy’s Divergent Studio, by ensembles including Density512, Pique Collective, and Bergamot Quartet. 

Seo Yoon is passionate about bringing music to a broader world. She served as a Junior Bach composition instructor helping young composers realize their musical ideas. She is a founding member of CNSNC, a composers’ collective presenting contemporary music to new audiences in the Baltimore/DC area. Currently, Seo Yoon is in her 2nd year of DMA studying with Dr. Kevin Puts at Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University. When not musicing, Seo Yoon takes care of her little balcony garden, where she raises herbs, perilla leaves, Korean green onion, radish, lettuce, and yellow Chrysanthemum that is in full bloom right now and presents joy every morning.

Jonathan Mitchell

Jonathan Mitchell is a Chicago-based composer. He studied classical composition at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music with Michael Slayton, Michael Rose, Stanley Link, and Carl Smith, and graduated in 2019 with a Bachelor of Music in Composition. Since then, he has worked as a Content Creator at Edify Technologies, Inc., composing music and leading curricular development for Edify’s educational app MusiQuest. 

Jonathan has had works performed by various players at the Blair School of Music; by Harvard University’s Choral Fellows, under the direction of Carson Cooman; and by La Banda de Conciertos de San José, under the baton of Thomas Verrier. He has also worked as a musical arranger and workshop leader with El Sistema Nacional de Educación Musical (SiNEM), an organization based in Costa Rica. Outside of composing, Jonathan spends his time listening to classic soul music, writing short bios, and trying to find pants that fit.

Aakash Mittal

As an artist I seek to heal my communities, music pedagogy and myself through my work. At the intersection of improvisation, Hindustani raga music and western notation I strive to foster radical self love, challenge patriarchy and eliminate the harshness that is often prevalent in music education. This odyssey has led me to seek out mentors and elders within a variety of musical traditions. From 2013 to 2015 I studied Hindustani Raga Music with Prattyush Banerjee in Kolkata, India with a fellowship from the American Institute of Indian Studies. My time in India inspired a series of new pieces titled Nocturne. Nocturne is my latest recording as a bandleader. The album was hailed as "a magical, evocative suite" by New York Music Daily. I live in Brooklyn, New York with my wife Jayanthi Bunyan. When I'm not making music I love to cook, play games and drink tea.

Ivette Herryman Rodríguez

Ivette Herryman Rodríguez holds a B.M in Music Composition from the Instituto Superior de Artes, in Havana, a M.M in Music Composition from Baylor University, and a M.M in Music Theory and D.M.A in Music Composition from Michigan State University.

Ivette’s music has been described as “absolutely exquisite” and “breathtakingly beautiful” (Kevin Noe-Artistic Director of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble and Director of Orchestras and Professor of Conducting at the UMKC Conservatory of Music). She is the composer of a bestseller piece for women’s choir, and the winner, among other awards, of a Cubadisco Special Award, and a Brandon Fradd Fellowship in Music Composition.

Ivette’s most recent commissions include new works for the Lantana Brass (University of North Texas) and Michigan State University's Symphony Band. Currently, she is Assistant Professor of Theory and Composition at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam.

Jungyoon Wie

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Jungyoon Wie is a composer, educator, and pianist based in San Francisco. Themes of identity have been the center of her compositional journey, and her recent research involved creating a short film in collaboration with filmmaker Toko Shiiki and Converge String Quartet which explores shifting dynamics of identity, otherness, and the marginalized experience of women. This film highlights a string quartet by Wie, Han, which uses Korean, folk, traditional, European, American, and contemporary expressive modalities. A recipient of the 2020 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, Wie has had the privilege of collaborating with wonderful artists and organizations including the Del Sol String Quartet, Spring Wind Quintet (Hawaii), A Far Cry, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, CityMusic Cleveland, American Composers Forum, Young Women Composers Camp, the Korean Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and the Cleveland Chamber Symphony. In 2020, Wie received a Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition from the University of Michigan.

Adam Zolty

Adam Zolty is a music composer and visual artist based in Vancouver British Columbia. After receiving his Bachelors of Music from the University of British Columbia in 2019, Adam was pursuing his master’s degree in music composition at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music before the pandemic hit. His music has been performed by many esteemed Canadian ensembles and performers including: PEP Piano and Erhu Project, NU:BC Ensemble, Phoenix Chamber Choir, Vancouver Chamber Choir, UBC Symphony, the UBC Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Turning Point Ensemble, and Corey Hamm. Adam joined the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music in 2019, where he has enjoyed composing for their programs ever since. Having grown up with professional dancers in his family, Adam strives to create musical experiences that are in tune with his sensitivities to physical motion, inspiring, and guiding his compositions.

Greg Abrell

Violinist, composer, and adventurer Greg Abrell makes music and shares stories wherever he can. Currently based in Denver, Colorado, he enjoys bringing music as much to concert halls as to living rooms, backyards, coffee shops, and mountaintops. As a second-generation Vietnamese-American, it is important to him to showcase the breadth and diversity of our cultural experiences through art, and collaboration is at the heart of that desire. As such, Greg is a founding member of multiple ensembles with great names like The Wild, Impossible Fox, and Sus4. He studied with Laura Bossert and Terry King at Longy School of Music and is currently pursuing graduate studies at the University of Colorado Boulder as a student of Harumi Rhodes. When not making noise, his many interests include cooking delicious foods, eating delicious foods, playing nerdy tabletop games, hiking, listening to podcasts, reading novels and poetry, and attempting to paint.

Mariama Alcântara

Born in Brazil into a musical family, I was always inspired by my father’s guitar and mandolin playing. I moved to the United States in 2012 to pursue my education, and am currently performing as a member of the Iris Chamber Orchestra. Improving equality and diversity in classical music is one of my main goals as an artist, and for that reason I worked with the Boulanger Initiative as a researcher. BI is an advocate of women composers based in Washington D.C. The Initiative promotes music composed by women through performance, education, commissions, and consultations. 

Another passion of mine is to introduce audiences to the different styles and genres of Brazilian music. This November, I am releasing my first album through the Italian label Da Vinci Classics, Brazilian Landscapes: Music for Solo Violin from Brazil. The works recorded were the 26 Preludes by Flausino Vale (1894-1954) and Partita para Violino Solo (which I commissioned in 2020) by Andre Mehmari (1977-). 

As a 2019 recipient of the Starling Fellowship, I am pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Colorado Boulder as a student and teaching assistant of Professor Harumi Rhodes of the Takács Quartet.

Tiani Butts

Violinist Tiani Butts is a passionate solo and chamber musician that strives to use the arts to encourage and inspire young students from all backgrounds. She has performed in numerous concert venues throughout the US as well as internationally in Germany, Austria, Iceland, and Italy as a violinist in the Rome Chamber Music Festival. In addition to her love for performance, Tiani is dedicated to teaching and engaging with the community through the arts. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings, and a dual Master’s degree in violin performance and chamber music from the University of Michigan. 

Tiani Butts is the second violinist of the Ivalas Quartet, the graduate string quartet in residence at CU Boulder, currently studying under the renowned Takács Quartet. Tiani has a passion for music and art by underrepresented artists and believes strongly in helping to shine a light on their numerous brilliant works. In her spare time, Tiani loves listening to pop, hip-hop, and R&B music, as well as spending time with friends and loved ones. She is also a lover of books, horror movies, and all things coffee!

Veda Hingert-McDonald

Veda Hingert-McDonald (she/her) is a Canadian violinist and composer currently pursuing a master’s at University of Colorado Boulder where she studies with Takács Quartet violinists Harumi Rhodes and Edward Dusinberre. Drawn to story just as much as sound, Veda’s performance of both new and standard repertoire aims to balance personal connection with tradition, and her compositions often draw on narrative and programmatic elements to explore themes of nature and questions she has about the world around her. 

Outside of her musical life Veda is active in environmental and food justice work including training in permaculture design, founding a zero waste concert series, and creating an Indigenous food justice garden. She sees both chamber music and permaculture as opportunities to build and model the kind of interconnectedness and empathy she wishes to see in the world. 

Reuben Kebede

Violinist Reuben Kebede has been heard in recital across the US, Europe, and in China. He is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma in string quartet performance with the Ivalas Quartet at CU Boulder under the tutelage of the Takács Quartet. In addition to working with all the Takács members, he studies privately with first violinist Edward Dusinberre. Previously, he studied with Danielle Belen at the University of Michigan, where he served as concertmaster of both university orchestras, and with Sarah Plum at Drake University. Reuben has spent the last few summers studying and performing at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, and most recently at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival and Colorado Music Festival. In his free time, Reuben enjoys playing and watching soccer, hiking, reading, and watching and discussing films.

Hannah Kennedy

Violinist Hannah Kennedy is a committed collaborator and recitalist known for her creative and  thoughtful performances. She enjoys creating programs with works from differing eras, styles,  and composers, and loves exploring how music has (and has not!) changed over time. 

She completed her undergraduate at UW-Eau Claire as an Eileen Phillips Cohen string quartet  fellow and went on to receive a Master’s degree at CU Boulder, studying with Harumi Rhodes.  She is currently continuing her studies with Ms. Rhodes while pursuing an Artist Diploma in solo  violin. Hannah was awarded first prize in the 2020 Bruce Ekstrand Competition, and presented  J.S. Bach's Chaconne as an Ekstrand semi-finalist in 2019. This year, she looks forward to  participating as a virtual performer fellow in the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Music Academy  and collaborating on a variety of chamber music projects. 

In her free time, Hannah enjoys spending time with friends and family, cooking, and being outside.

MarieFaith Lane

MarieFaith Lane is a master’s candidate pursuing violin performance and pedagogy at the University of Colorado Boulder under the guidance of Takács Quartet violinists Harumi Rhodes and Edward Dusinberre. Prior to studying at CU Boulder, MarieFaith graduated cum laude from Vanderbilt University with degrees in Violin Performance and Medicine, Health, and Society. MarieFaith is passionate about teaching, research, and collaboration. She recently served as a Teaching Artist for the Colorado Lullaby Project, an initiative originating in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, working with pregnant women and new mothers and fathers in the community to create personalized lullabies for their babies. MarieFaith’s most recent honor is her publication with the String Research Journal entitled "Does the Bow Fit: Using Anthropometry and Grip Strength to Assess Fractional-Size Violin Bows,” focusing on using anthropometric and grip strength measurements to make fractional-size violin bows better suited for children. Outside of the performance space, MarieFaith enjoys practicing yoga, spending time outdoors, and volunteering with various organizations that support seniors and people with special needs around Boulder and beyond.

Victor Avila Luvsangenden

Born in Ulaanbaatar, Victor is an Australian violinist of Venezuelan and Mongolian heritage. He began learning the violin at the age of 7 with his mother, and his later tertiary violin studies were undertaken with Ole Bohn and Goetz Richter at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where he graduated with First Class Honors. Victor obtained his Master of Music degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, in the studio of Cyrus Forough.

Victor has participated in international music festivals such as the Fifth Weimar Bach Academy, in Weimar, Germany, and the New Virtuosi International Mastercourse in Duino, Italy. He has also given recitals at international venues including the Sala Cecília Meireles in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the Vigeland Museum in Oslo, Norway. Victor is currently undertaking a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where his principal teachers are Harumi Rhodes and Edward Dusinberre. Victor’s doctoral research examines the music and lives of Mongolian composers from the twentieth century. 

Victor enjoys collaborating with composers, having recently premiered a piece for solo violin which was dedicated to him by Australian composer and pianist, Pavle Cajic. In that spirit, Victor is excited and grateful for the wonderful opportunity to collaborate with the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music. Outside of music, Victor enjoys learning languages; he speaks Spanish as his second language he has studied French, German, Portuguese, and Russian. Mongolian is next!

Edward Dusinberre

First violinist of the Takács Quartet and Artist-in-Residence at the University of Colorado, Boulder, I was born in 1968 in Leamington Spa, England, and started learning the violin at the age of four. After studying at the Royal College of Music in London, I continued my studies at The Juilliard School. I joined the Takács Quartet in 1993. My book Beethoven for a Later Age: The Journey of a String Quartet describes my earlier years in the quartet through the experience of learning the Beethoven quartets. It was published in the UK and USA in 2016 and later translated into German and Korean. During the pandemic I wrote a book, to be published in 2022, that explores the relationship between music and home, in my own life and in the lives and chamber music of several composers. My father is American and my mother’s ancestry is partially Scottish: from childhood holidays in Scotland, aspects of the wild and melancholy scenery of Sutherland remain with me. Some of the formative experiences that pulled me towards a life in music were theatrical. While studying in London, I was lucky enough to see Anthony Hopkins play the title role in King Lear at the National Theatre and Judi Dench playing Ranyevskaya in Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. If pushed to choose, I would, thirty-one years later, still describe the latter play as my favorite piece of chamber music.