Bronwyn Banerdt joined the cello section of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 2014.  She made her solo debut with Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2002 and has since appeared in concert throughout the United States, Europe, Russia and southern Africa. Notable solo appearances include performances with the Houston Symphony, Albany Symphony and the world premiere of Poem for Cello & Orchestra by Michael Kamen. Equally passionate about chamber music and orchestral performance, Bronwyn Banerdt has co-founded two uniquely focused chamber music ensembles with other members of the Pittsburgh Symphony. Banerdt has collaborated with renowned artists such as Kim Kashkashian and Mitsuko Uchida, and members of the Emerson, Guarneri, Juilliard, Borodin and Orion string quartets. She has performed at numerous chamber music festivals including Marlboro Music and Music from Angel Fire. Before joining the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Banerdt was a member of the prize-winning Trio Terzetto and performed as a substitute with many of the great orchestras of the world, including the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony and Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Jennifer Orchard, violinist, graduate of the Curtis Institute with a master’s degree from The Julliard School, has called Pittsburgh home since 2001. She is a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and is a founding member of the Clarion Quartet, which was formed to present works by suppressed composers. Their first recording, “Breaking the Silence,” on the Naxos label, features music by Jewish composers who suffered exile and execution at the hand of the Nazis. Currently, the Quartet is broadening its scope, exploring other marginalized composers, who have been overlooked and denied the acclaim they deserve. Before moving to Pittsburgh, Orchard was a member of the world-renowned Lark Quartet and recorded extensively under the Arabesque label during her eight-year tenure. Her talent was recognized with an invitation from famed composer/conductor, Marvin Hamlisch, performing with Hamlisch as a guest of honor at the Kuwaiti embassy. As a child in Canada, Orchard learned to play the fiddle and has used these diverse talents, collaborating with conductor Byron Stripling and singer songwriter, Andrew Lipke.

A native of Québec City, Canada, Marylène Gingras-Roy joined the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 1997 and currently serves as Acting Associate Principal Viola. She has also been a member of the Sun Valley Music Festival Orchestra since 2000.

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Karen Tuttle and Joseph de Pasquale, Marylène is Adjunct Professor of Viola at Duquesne University and maintains a private teaching studio. With more than 30 years of teaching experience, she coaches the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra and spent 19 years coaching the Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestra. She has also taught at summer festivals in North America and Europe.

An active soloist and chamber musician, Marylène has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and appeared at festivals internationally. She performs on a 1972 viola by Italian-born luthier Sergio Peresson.

Daphne Alderson’s diverse career as contralto includes opera, cabaret, chamber music, theater, television and film. “Haunting and mesmerizing.” Quotes Ted Sohier, WQED-fm, Pittsburgh, and An original, unique artist in Pittsburgh, or anywhere …beautiful renderings of Piaf,” (Pittsburgh City Paper, Andy Mulkerin). This past season included SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE as Old Lady/Naomi (Front Porch Theatricals) and Reza Vali’s ESFAHAN with the Carpe Diem String Quartet. Notable roles: Alice in Opera Theater of Pittsburgh’s premiere of A NEW KIND OF FALLOUT, (“Haunting and memorable.” Pgh Tribune Review), “Piaf at Carnegie Hall, 1956.” Madame Armfeldt in Sondheim’s, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, Mere Jeanne in Pittsburgh Opera’s acclaimed production of Poulenc’s DIALOGUES OF THE CARMELITES, Microscopic Opera’s FANTASTIC MR. FOX (Agnes), Albert’s LIZBETH (Abby Borden), the world premiere of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (Helen Cooper), AINADAMAR (Quantum Theatre) and the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Paris Festival. Daphne and the St. Michael Band features John Marcinizyn, guitarist, Elisa Kohanski, cellist and accordionist Vladimir Mollov. Their album, JOAN OF ARC features Piaf and Leonard Cohen ballads. Ms. Alderson toured through the MidAtlantic region in Songs That Oscar Taught Me, and All Heart, All Judy. Chamber Music partnerships include IonSound Project, Steinway Artist Yeeha Chiu, Norma Meyer, and Douglas Levine. With John Marcinizyn, she toured throughout Central and South America with Institute for Shipboard Education. Daphne is on faculty at CCAC, maintains a private studio and lives in Pittsburgh.

 Lilly Abreu is one of Brazil’s greatest cultural assets. As a classical and jazz vocalist, she has performed with orchestras and jazz ensembles all over the world. Ms. Abreu currently sings with the Pittsburgh Opera and has been in productions such as Carmen, Florencia en el Amazonas,  and The Magic Flute at the Benedum Theater.  As an accomplished popular music artist, she performs some of the greatest tunes of the Brazilian repertoire, Broadway and Jazz standards. Ms. Abreu has released a few CDs including the CDs BRASILEIRA and BOSSA, a CD of Brazilian popular songs with the Grammy winner string quartet Cuarteto Latinoamericano.  Dubbing for the Disney movies in Brazil, Ms. Abreu recorded Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Bambi, Disney on Ice, and she was the voice of Cinderella on Disney on Ice, just to mention a few. She is also a faculty member at the Woodlands’ Notes from the Heart, a music camp for children and adults with disabilities and chronic illness. Ms. Abreu received a Master’s degree in Voice Performance from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA Essentials from the University of Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh based guitarist, composer, banjoist John Marcinizyn performs frequently as a soloist, with contralto Daphne Alderson, The Red Hot Ramblers (Dixieland jazz) and multiple groups ranging from The Bach Choir of Pittsburgh to Billy Price. His versatility as an acoustic and electric guitarist allows him to perform in many styles including classical, jazz, flamenco, rock, blues, and folk. John has also performed guitar and banjo for many theater companies.  His playing can be heard on many recordings including “Blue Ride” (a collection of original instrumentals).

John’s compositions have received numerous performances and include a guitar concerto, string quartet, orchestral music, music for theater, and pieces for solo guitar and guitar with mixed ensemble, as well as many jazz and rock pieces. He has also written music for commercials and film. John holds a Ph. D. in music composition and theory from the University of Pittsburgh and is an Artist-Lecturer in guitar and composition at Carnegie Mellon University and Chatham University.

An award winner of the Pittsburgh Concert Society and the Head of Piano Program at Chatham University, Pauline Rovkah is an active performer and music educator. She is a founder and Artistic Director of Chamber Music concert series at Chatham University. Ms. Rovkah designed and coordinated variety of thematic Music Festivals, including “East Meets West,” “Sounds of Africa,” “The Nordic Sound,” “Sounds of Indonesia”. She organized and performed in a number of benefit concerts, such as “Music without Boundaries”, “What it means to miss New Orleans”, “Music for Haiti”, “Celebrate Japan”, “Plea for Nepal” and “Stand with Ukraine”, with the principal musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Rovkah adjudicated at Chamber Music Competition and Concerto Competition at Carnegie Mellon University, at Young Artist Auditions in West Virginia and at the Pittsburgh International Piano Competition. Pauline Rovkah studied piano and music at the Kharkiv Specialized Music School and at the Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts (Conservatory), Kharkiv, Ukraine, under Professor Mikhail Khazanovsky

Roger enjoys instigating fairly complex and unpredictable interactions through as activities as teacher, violinist/violist, conductor, composer, and writer. As a violinist, he has given more than a hundred first performances and championed music by a wide range of composers from John Cage to Eric Moe, Kwabena Nketia and Tison Street to Judith Weir and Christian Wolff. Recordings as violinist, composer and conductor are available on the Truemedia, Albany, Centaur, and Koch International Classics labels. His works have been performed throughout the world by such soloists and ensembles as cellists David Russell and Lawrence Stomberg, kayagum artist Heesun Kim, violinist Nathalie Shaw, flutist Lindsey Goodman, pianists Robert Frankenberry, Eric Moe and Bennett Lerner, guitarists John Muratore and James Marron, and The Furious Band, California E.A.R. Unit, IonSound Project and Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. He is also a founding core faculty member of the MFA in Music Composition at Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Stacey Brett Davern is a Vocalist (Soprano) and Music Educator. She received an M.M. in Vocal Performance from Duquesne University, and a B.M.E. in Music Education and Vocal Performance from West Virginia Wesleyan College. Ms. Davern has performed with Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Musical Theater, Pittsburgh Camerata and The Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh. She has also studied in Italy with the Ezio Pinza Council for American Singers of Opera (EPCASO), and continues to perform throughout the Pittsburgh area as a soloist.

Steinway Artist, Yeeha Chiu, Hong Kong-born pianist, studied with Ilona Kabos, Bela Siki, Beveridge Webster, Nadia Reisenberg and Sheila Paige. A graduate of the Royal College of Music in London and the Juilliard School of Music, she has taught at Juilliard and Duquesne University.

Miss Chiu performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the historic inauguration of the first Concert Hall in Hong Kong. Subsequently she was concerto soloist with the Taipei Municipal Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and also the Vienna Symphony under Christoph Eschenbach. She has appeared in solo and chamber music recitals in Asia, Australia, Europe and the United States, including a series of concerts in Taiwan sponsored by the United States Information Service. In reviewing her Asian tour, The Japan Times noted that “Her sincere and genuine musicianship made this a truly memorable evening

(l-r: Roger Zahab – violin, Finn Fitzgerald – viola (Physics/Quantum Computing), Tommy Zummo – cello (Microbiology/Chemistry/Music), Ray Jewell, violin (Music/Neuroscience/Chemistry)

Andres Tapia-Urzua / ATU is a filmmaker and multimedia artist practicing in video, music, performance and installation. Fusing aesthetics, theory and political issues, his work frequently explores the liminality of an identity in constant intersection between culture and technology. Tapia-Urzua offers us a poignant and fascinating look at contemporary society where social alienation, high-tech environments and the poetics of globalization are represented in sharp and accessible ways. His visual proposal also considers the concept of cultural hybridity recognizing the current exchange, bond and tension among different societies after complex relationships of colonial dependency in coexistence. His the founder of Plan Z Media, a video, sound and multimedia production company specializing in the arts and social issues and a former Academic Chair of the Filmmaking, Video Production and VFX programs at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh; and current Adjunct Faculty at Carnegie Mellon University. He is a Mid-Atlantic Media Arts, Heinz Endowments, and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellow; and is a winner of many awards such as the Cine Latino Award in San Francisco, California; the Experimental Award at the FICS Film Festival in Santiago de Chile; the Design, Art & Technology Media Arts Award in Pittsburgh,  etc. His work has been published and exhibited in many venues such as the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, California; the Global Multimedia Interface in London, UK; the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, etc.