Berklee Composition Department Faculty Concert
Hear new and recent works composed and performed by Berklee Composition Department faculty.
Note: The following event program has been provided by the artist and published as submitted.
Program
Songs of Anger and Oasis* (2025) Francine Trester
Picnic
Almost May
Wish
Service Plaza
Restraint
Clarity
Erin Merceruio Nelson, soprano, Francine Trester, violin and Eileen Huang, piano
so near, so far Marti Epstein
i
ii
iii
iv
v
vi
David Russell, cello
A Postcard from Ukraine (2022) Larry Bell
Larry Bell, piano
Conversations between Wind and Water (2011) **Hong-Da Chin
Orlando Cela, flute
Delta Lament (2005) ***James Russell Smith Apostolos Paraskevas, guitar
*World Premier Performance
** Guest composer, selected and performed by Composition Department Faculty.
*** In Memoriam. This work was written by Emeritus Professor, the late Jim Smith, for Professor Paraskevas.
Picnic
Almost May
Wish
Service Plaza
Restraint
Clarity
Erin Merceruio Nelson, soprano, Francine Trester, violin and Eileen Huang, piano
so near, so far Marti Epstein
i
ii
iii
iv
v
vi
David Russell, cello
A Postcard from Ukraine (2022) Larry Bell
Larry Bell, piano
Conversations between Wind and Water (2011) **Hong-Da Chin
Orlando Cela, flute
Delta Lament (2005) ***James Russell Smith Apostolos Paraskevas, guitar
*World Premier Performance
** Guest composer, selected and performed by Composition Department Faculty.
*** In Memoriam. This work was written by Emeritus Professor, the late Jim Smith, for Professor Paraskevas.
Program Notes
FRANCINE TRESTER, composer and violin
Praised as “compelling” and “thought-provoking” by the Boston Musical Intelligencer, Francine Trester’s A Walk In Her Shoes was premiered by Boston Landmarks Orchestra at the Hatch Memorial Shell and most recently In Her Element was premiered at Sanders Theater by the Kendall Square Orchestra. Trester’s libretto and score to the chamber opera Florence Comes Home, about composer Florence Price, was commissioned by Shelter Music Boston and described by the Intelligencer as “meaningful…wide and comprehensive.” She was commissioned by Kenneth Radnofsky to write Street Views for the Amram Ensemble; World-Wide Concurrent Premieres commissioned her Reminiscence: 3 Meditations on Friendship, which was also premiered by Radnofsky. In 2020, Trester’s reed quintet, “This” (words and music by the composer) was commissioned by the Boston Woodwind Society and premiered and recorded by the Kalliope Reed Quintet.
Trester’s work has been featured at Faneuil Hall, Jordan Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Louvre, as well as Florence Gould Hall, the Kosciuszko Foundation, Joseph Papp Public Theater, and SubCulture. International performances include the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and concerts in Russia, China, France, England, Canada and Mexico. A writer of her own texts, she is honored to have had her vocal music performed by vocal soloists Elizabeth Anker, Carrie Cheron, Robert Honeysucker, Richard Lalli, Erin Merceruio Nelson, Sarah Pelletier, Brianna Robinson, Jayne West, Donald Wilkinson, and Matthew Hoch in collaboration with guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan. Among her many vocal works is her cycle, “An Oman Odyssey” (text and music by the composer). Written for the Mirror Visions Ensemble, her “Oman Odyssey” was described as “haunting…showing imaginative musical writing…keening melody laden with emotion” (New York Classical Review). The cycle incorporates the artwork of Sheridan Oman and Trester’s additional interest in the visual arts.
Trester is a Professor of Composition at Berklee College of Music and a 2023 Berklee Faculty Fellowship recipient. Awarded a sabbatical by Berklee for the 2025 spring academic semester, Trester completed The Hour of Clarice, a commission for the Aurea Ensemble. A cycle of 14 songs setting the words of Clarice Lispector, the work will premiere in 2026 at Brown University. Spring 2025 also saw the completion of a commission from guitarist Dave McLellan and an additional work for pianist Eileen Huang and flutist Sara Kornfeld-Sylla.
Trester earned her undergraduate and doctoral degrees in composition at Yale, studying composition with Jacob Druckman and Martin Bresnick, and violin with Syoko Aki. A Fulbright Scholarship recipient, she continued her composition studies with Alexander Goehr at Cambridge University. Additionally, Trester is an active violinist. As a violinist, she attended the Juilliard Pre-College Division for seven years, studying with Louise Behrend. She was twice a member of the New York String Orchestra, under the direction of Alexander Schneider, and attended the Waterloo Music Festival, performing under the direction of Gerard Schwarz. She was twice a Tanglewood Fellowship recipient, where she worked with Leonard Bernstein. Currently she performs with the Eleuthera Piano Trio (Julie Reimann, cello and Lois Shapiro, piano). Trester’s music is recorded on Affetto/Naxos, Albany, Crystal and Stone Records labels and is available through the American Composers Alliance. www.francinetrester.com
MARTI EPSTEIN
Marti Epstein is a Boston-based composer whose music has been performed all over the US and Europe. She has completed commissions for the Talea Ensemble and the Fromm Foundation, amongst many others. Marti was a two-time fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center (1986 and 1988) and a four-time fellow at the MacDowell Colony (1998, 1999, 2022, 2025). In 2020, Marti was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, and in 2023 Marti was awarded a commission from Chamber Music America.
Marti is Professor of Composition at Berklee College of Music/Boston Conservatory of Music.
LARRY BELL
Recognized by The Chicago Tribune as “a major talent,” composer Larry Thomas Bell’s music has been widely played throughout the world by a distinguished array of performers. The Juilliard String Quartet premiered Bell’s First String Quartet, written when the composer was twenty-one. Over sixty of his two hundred and works have been commercially recorded. As a pianist Bell has given recitals throughout the United States, as well as in Italy, Austria, and Japan and performed on many of his own recordings. All of his works are published by Casa Rustica Publications, Ione Press, and Universal Edition (Vienna) and he is a BMI composer.
He has been awarded the Rome Prize, fellowships from the Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundations, and the Charles Ives Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Larry Bell received his DMA from The Juilliard School, working in composition with Vincent Persichetti and Roger Sessions, in solfège with Renée Longy, piano with Joseph Bloch and with Joseph Rollino privately in Rome.
HONG-DA CHIN
Malaysian composer Hong-Da Chin enjoys immersing himself in the process of translating images and words into music. His musical voice draws inspiration from poctry, novella, and visual arts. Chin was a winner of the Bent Frequency 2022 Call for Scores and a finalist of the ASU Gammage Beyond and ASU Symphony Orchestra Commission Competition in 2018. Chin's music has been performed in the United States, Germany, France, Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania, Austria, Poland, Isracl, Mexico, Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines and Singapore. The ensembles and performers that have performed his music include the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, No Exit New Music Ensemble, Khasma Piano Duo, New Thread Quartet, Ogni Suono Saxophone Duo, Bent Frequency, Patchwork, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Altered Sound Duo, Marilyn Shrude, John Sampen, Doug Perkins, among others. His music has been featured at the Spoleto Festival USA, World Saxophone Congress, North American Saxophone Alliance, Asian Composers League Festival and Conference, Society of Composers National Conference, Electronic Music Midwest, Society of Composers National Conference, WIU New Music Festival, University of Nebraska at Kearney New Music Festival, Bowling Green New Music Festival, NEOSonic Festival, Threshold Festival, Electroacoustic Barn Dance, Rasquache Artist Residency, Avaloch Farm Institute, among others. In addition to his work as a composer Chin is an accomplished Chinese flutist specializing in contemporary music. He has performed at venues such as the Carnegie Hall (NYC), Alice Tully Hall (NYC), John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington D.C.), Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC), Asia Society (NYC), Phillips Collection (Washington D.C.), Huntington Library (LA), Smithsonian Institution (Washington D.C..), Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park (Chicago), Art Institute of Chicago, and Silesian T'heatre (Katowice, Poland). Chin carned a Doctor of Musical Arts from BGSU in December 2017 studying with Marilyn Shrude and Mikel Kuchn. Chin is faculty of Composition and Music Theory at Western Illinois University, a member of the ADJeective Composers'
Collective and the Society of Malaysian Contemporary Composers.
His eclectic compositional style arises as an idiosyncratic integration of seemingly conflicting influences – from avant-garde approaches to harmonic structure, form, and timbre, to pop-folk modal and rhythmical concepts – amalgamated into a personal evocative musical language, characterized by rhythmic verve, melodic grace, dramatic (and sometimes unexpectedly humorous) gestures, and ritualistic or theatrical elements. The latter feature has also led Paraskevas to create films, notably the acclaimed I Finally Did It (Gold award, California Film Awards 2010), dealing wittily with Death, a recurring extra-musical theme in his music.
Publishers: Hal Leonard (USA), Bèrben (Ancona, Italy), Schott (Germany), Papagrigoriou-Nakas (Athens, Greece), Silver Sickle Productions (USA), Centaur Records, Bridge Records (USA). -The Groves Dictionary of Music, Costas Tsougras
JAMES RUSSELL SMITH
Jim served as a faculty member at several universities, notably the University of Wyoming, Middle Tennessee State University, and finally the Berklee College of Music in Boston. At Berklee, he had a distinguished career spanning over 30 years as a professor of Classical Theory and Composition in the Professional Writing Division, as well as serving for many years as the department’s assistant chair. Smith has received commissions from the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Southampton Youth Symphony of England, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, and Boston’s Back Bay Chorale, among others.
ERIN MERCERUIO NELSON, soprano
Hailed as “secure and sonorous” with a “bright, flexible voice” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), soprano Erin Merceruio Nelson is quickly becoming known for her signature blend of impeccable musicianship and strong dramatic instincts across a broad range of challenging repertoire. An avid performer of new and contemporary music, Erin’s 2023-2024 season performances include the role of Ruth in the East Coast premier of Awakenings by Tobias Picker with Odyssey Opera as well as multiple roles in a new set of chamber operas with White Snake Projects. Erin will also premiere a new work for orchestra and soloists titled “In Her Element” by Francine Trester with the Kendall Square Orchestra. In past seasons, Erin created the role of The Nymph in the the world premiere of NIGHTTOWN by Benjamin P. Wenzelberg with Lowell House Opera at Harvard University, premiered the chamber work Tide Flowers by composer Geoffrey Gibbs at the University of Rhode Island as the soprano soloist, and appeared as Bea in Jakem Heggie’s Three Decembers with TBD Opera Project under the direction of Sharon Daniels. Erin’s 2023-2024 season also includes the role of First Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute with MassOpera.
Other recent performances include Lady Clarence in Odyssey Opera’s concert production of Saint-Saëns’ Henry VIII, First Lady and Papagena in The Magic Flute with the Nahant Music Festival. Erin was also featured in Odyssey Opera’s production of Strauss’ Die ägyptische Helena and covered the role of Cunégonde in Opera del West’s production of Bernstein’s Candide. Throughout the pandemic, Erin took part in several outdoor concerts with NEMPAC and Opera on Tap Boston. Also recently, Erin was thrilled to be named a Finalist in the Vermont Vocal Competition in Brandon, VT. Other favorite roles on the opera stage have included Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen, Almirena in Handel’s Rinaldo, Clorinda in Rossini’s Cinderella, Helena in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Kupava in Rimsky-Korsakov’s beloved fairy-tale, Snegurochka. She has performed these roles through her longtime association with companies throughout the East Coast, including The Boston Conservatory, Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, Juventas New Music Ensemble, MetroWest Opera (now MASS Opera), NEMPAC Opera Project, Odyssey Opera, Opera Breve (NY), Opera del West, Opera on Tap Boston, and Piccola Opera.
Picture A native of Martinsburg, West Virginia, Erin holds an M.M. in Vocal Performance from The Boston Conservatory and a B.M. in Vocal Performance from Shenandoah University in Virginia.
EILEEN HUANG, piano
Acclaimed as an “estimable pianist” and “sensitive partner” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), Eileen Huang is a frequent collaborator with the Boston-area’s finest instrumentalists and vocalists.
Her performance with Boston Symphony Orchestra principal bassist Edwin Barker and violinist Yevgeny Kutik at the Rockport Chamber Music Festival received praise for its “poise and polish,” “soft delicacy,” and “tasteful rubato” (Boston Classical Review). Eileen also appeared at the Tanglewood Music Festival with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, conductor James Burton, and BSO Associate Concertmaster Alexander Velinzon.
Eileen has been a rehearsal pianist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Emmanuel Music, and the Boston City Singers. In 2010 she joined the music staff at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, serving as a piano instructor, collaborative pianist, coach, and interim chair of the piano program. Also an accomplished soprano, Eileen appeared as a concert soloist with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and Wellesley Choral Society and was selected by James Levine to cover the soprano solo for the world premiere of William Bolcom’s Eighth Symphony. She was one of eight vocalists featured during the inaugural season of the Nahant Music Festival in 2014, and again in 2015.
As both pianist and soprano, Eileen has premiered several works by composer Francine
Trester. Of her title role in Trester’s opera, Sleeping Beauty, the Boston Musical
Intelligencer wrote, “Eileen Huang did vocal justice as the sleepy star of the show with a fine sense of humor and style.” From 2006 to 2018, Eileen was a member of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and performed more than 100 concerts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops. With the TFC, Eileen participated in the BSO’s Grammy award-winning recording of Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, had the honor of singing at Senator Ted Kennedy’s funeral, and sang the national anthem at Fenway Park.
Raised in New Jersey, Eileen made her concerto debut at age 11 with the Battleground Arts Center Symphony Orchestra and was featured as a chamber musician at Alice Tully Hall at age 17. She received her training at the Juilliard School and the Aspen Music Festival and School, where she studied with the late Herbert Stessin, and holds a degree in chemistry from MIT.
DAVID RUSSELL, cello
Hailed as “superb”, “incisive” and “sonorous and panoramic” (Boston Globe), David Russell maintains a vigorous schedule both as soloist and as collaborator in the U.S. and Europe. He was appointed to the teaching faculty of Wellesley College in 2005 and currently serves as Lecturer and Director of Chamber Music. He has served as Principal cello of the orchestras of Odyssey Opera and Opera Boston since 2010 and performs regularly with many ensembles based in New England such as Cantata Singers and Ensemble, the Worcester Chamber Music Society and Emmanuel Music. A strong advocate of new music, Russell has performed and recorded with contemporary ensembles such as Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Firebird Ensemble, Ludovico Ensemble, Callithumpian Consort, Music on the Edge, Dinosaur Annex, Collage, the Fromm Players at Harvard, and entelechron. Recent projects include recordings of cello concertos by Chen Yi and Lukas Foss, recordings of solo and chamber works by Lee Hyla, Eric Moe, Tamar Diesendruck, Donald Crockett, Andrew Rindfleisch and Roger Zahab as well as premieres of music by David Lang, Barbara White, Marti Epstein, Daron Hagen, José-Luis Hurtado, Robert Carl, Gilda Lyons, and Jorge Martin. Russell has also recently premiered works for cello and orchestra by Laurie San Martin and Samuel Nichols, as well as works for solo cello by Tamar Diesendruck, Andrew Rindfleisch, and John Mallia. Russell has recorded for the Tzaddik, Albany, BMOPSound, CRI, Centaur and New World Records labels.
ORLANDO CELA, flute
“In Orlando Cela’s able hands and imagination, a flute becomes a world orchestra,” says the Oregon ArtsWatch about Orlando’s lively performances that open new worlds of experience. Known for his compelling renditions, using imaginative programming,
Orlando has premiered over 200 works, both as a conductor and a flutist, to rave reviews from the national media. In concert, Mr. Cela regularly offers short lively introductions to selected works, providing audiences with entry points into unfamiliar works, so that listeners can easily connect the music with other life experience. Mr. Cela has performed at the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian (Washington DC), the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston), and at the Center for New Music and Technologies at UC Berkeley. His credits abroad include concerts at the Zentrum Danziger (Berlin), the Espace des Femmes (Paris), and at the Musikverein (Vienna). As a collaborative artist, Mr. Cela has concertized with flutist Paula Robison, tabla player Samir Chatterjee, harpsichordist John Gibbons, and with shen (mouth organ) virtuoso Hu Jianbing. He recently became a finalist in the American Prize in the professional instrumentalist division. He recently released his third solo CD, “Shadow Etchings” with rave reviews from Grammophone, Naxos Music, and Avant Music News. Orlando is also the conductor of the Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lowell Chamber Orchestra, and the NC Governor’s School Orchestra.
As a conductor, he serves as the Music Director of the Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Lowell Chamber Orchestra, and he is the former music director of the Orchestra of the North Carolina Governor’s School. He has also guest conducted the Manchester Symphony Orchestra and Choral, the London Classical Soloists, Marquette Symphony Orchestra, and others. He created the Ningbo Symphony Orchestra during his year as visiting professor at Ningbo University, in China. Orlando has received the American Prize for conducting youth and community orchestras, the Vytautas Marijosius Prize for orchestral programming, and the Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for excellence in the performance of American music. His interpretation of Beethoven’s Symphonies 7 and 8 with the London Classical Soloists earned him a second prize with their competition. A dedicated music educator, Orlando is known for his dynamic workshops and lecture demonstrations. Popular and effective as a guest lecturer and clinician, he has presented sessions at Tulane University, UC Berkeley, and Brandeis University, as well as at the Central Conservatory of Music in China, the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart (Germany), and the Charlotte New Music Festival (NC).
Mr. Cela has also lectured on general performance practice issues at flute festivals in Ithaca and Syracuse, and at in China at Dulwich College (Beijing) and Shanghai Normal
University. He currently is assistant professor at Berklee College of Music, where he teaches conducting, and at Middlesex Community College, where he teaches a variety of music courses and is the coordinator of the MCC Music Outreach Program. Orlando has two masters degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied flute performance and conducting with Paula Robison and Tamara Brooks, respectively.
APOSTOLOS PARASKEVAS, guitar
Apostolos Paraskevas is a classical guitarist, composer, award-winning film director, and producer. He has received multiple international awards for his compositions and was nominated for a Grammy Award. He is the only guitarist ever to have a major orchestral piece performed at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Lukas Foss, and the only musician to perform there in a Grim Reaper outfit. He has made over a dozen recordings of his music, and his orchestral music has been performed around the world by numerous symphony orchestras, including Albany, Boston Landmarks, Boston University, Newton, National Festival, Atlantic, Odessa, National Greek, Cyprus, Florida International University, Thessaloniki Municipal Symphony orchestras, and Boston Civic Orchestra. He was the founder and served 16 years as the artistic director of the International Guitar Congress Festival of Corfu, Greece. He is a voting member of the Recording Academy (Grammys) and a Professor of Music at Berklee College of Music.
After his undergraduate music studies in Volos, he pursued advanced studies in classical guitar with Costas Cotsiolis (diploma, 1990) and Leo Brouwer (Havana, 1984, 1988), as well as postgraduate studies in composition with Lukas Foss and Theodore Antoniou (DMA in composition, Boston University, 1998). Paraskevas embarked on a successful career as a guitar soloist and contemporary composer, achieving distinctions in both disciplines: a Grammy nomination for Chase Dance (Bridge Records, 1999); first prize for Night Wanderings (Lukas Foss Composition Competition, 2000); first prize for Phygein Adynaton (National Composers Conference, 1997); and numerous prestigious commissions, performances, and publications. Following teaching posts at Northeastern and Boston Universities, Paraskevas has taught at the Berklee College of Music in Boston since 2001 (professor of composition and classical guitar). Although he was struck by focal hand dystonia in 2009, he recovered in 2013 after reconstructing his playing technique.
Praised as “compelling” and “thought-provoking” by the Boston Musical Intelligencer, Francine Trester’s A Walk In Her Shoes was premiered by Boston Landmarks Orchestra at the Hatch Memorial Shell and most recently In Her Element was premiered at Sanders Theater by the Kendall Square Orchestra. Trester’s libretto and score to the chamber opera Florence Comes Home, about composer Florence Price, was commissioned by Shelter Music Boston and described by the Intelligencer as “meaningful…wide and comprehensive.” She was commissioned by Kenneth Radnofsky to write Street Views for the Amram Ensemble; World-Wide Concurrent Premieres commissioned her Reminiscence: 3 Meditations on Friendship, which was also premiered by Radnofsky. In 2020, Trester’s reed quintet, “This” (words and music by the composer) was commissioned by the Boston Woodwind Society and premiered and recorded by the Kalliope Reed Quintet.
Trester’s work has been featured at Faneuil Hall, Jordan Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Louvre, as well as Florence Gould Hall, the Kosciuszko Foundation, Joseph Papp Public Theater, and SubCulture. International performances include the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and concerts in Russia, China, France, England, Canada and Mexico. A writer of her own texts, she is honored to have had her vocal music performed by vocal soloists Elizabeth Anker, Carrie Cheron, Robert Honeysucker, Richard Lalli, Erin Merceruio Nelson, Sarah Pelletier, Brianna Robinson, Jayne West, Donald Wilkinson, and Matthew Hoch in collaboration with guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan. Among her many vocal works is her cycle, “An Oman Odyssey” (text and music by the composer). Written for the Mirror Visions Ensemble, her “Oman Odyssey” was described as “haunting…showing imaginative musical writing…keening melody laden with emotion” (New York Classical Review). The cycle incorporates the artwork of Sheridan Oman and Trester’s additional interest in the visual arts.
Trester is a Professor of Composition at Berklee College of Music and a 2023 Berklee Faculty Fellowship recipient. Awarded a sabbatical by Berklee for the 2025 spring academic semester, Trester completed The Hour of Clarice, a commission for the Aurea Ensemble. A cycle of 14 songs setting the words of Clarice Lispector, the work will premiere in 2026 at Brown University. Spring 2025 also saw the completion of a commission from guitarist Dave McLellan and an additional work for pianist Eileen Huang and flutist Sara Kornfeld-Sylla.
Trester earned her undergraduate and doctoral degrees in composition at Yale, studying composition with Jacob Druckman and Martin Bresnick, and violin with Syoko Aki. A Fulbright Scholarship recipient, she continued her composition studies with Alexander Goehr at Cambridge University. Additionally, Trester is an active violinist. As a violinist, she attended the Juilliard Pre-College Division for seven years, studying with Louise Behrend. She was twice a member of the New York String Orchestra, under the direction of Alexander Schneider, and attended the Waterloo Music Festival, performing under the direction of Gerard Schwarz. She was twice a Tanglewood Fellowship recipient, where she worked with Leonard Bernstein. Currently she performs with the Eleuthera Piano Trio (Julie Reimann, cello and Lois Shapiro, piano). Trester’s music is recorded on Affetto/Naxos, Albany, Crystal and Stone Records labels and is available through the American Composers Alliance. www.francinetrester.com
MARTI EPSTEIN
Marti Epstein is a Boston-based composer whose music has been performed all over the US and Europe. She has completed commissions for the Talea Ensemble and the Fromm Foundation, amongst many others. Marti was a two-time fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center (1986 and 1988) and a four-time fellow at the MacDowell Colony (1998, 1999, 2022, 2025). In 2020, Marti was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, and in 2023 Marti was awarded a commission from Chamber Music America.
Marti is Professor of Composition at Berklee College of Music/Boston Conservatory of Music.
LARRY BELL
Recognized by The Chicago Tribune as “a major talent,” composer Larry Thomas Bell’s music has been widely played throughout the world by a distinguished array of performers. The Juilliard String Quartet premiered Bell’s First String Quartet, written when the composer was twenty-one. Over sixty of his two hundred and works have been commercially recorded. As a pianist Bell has given recitals throughout the United States, as well as in Italy, Austria, and Japan and performed on many of his own recordings. All of his works are published by Casa Rustica Publications, Ione Press, and Universal Edition (Vienna) and he is a BMI composer.
He has been awarded the Rome Prize, fellowships from the Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundations, and the Charles Ives Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Larry Bell received his DMA from The Juilliard School, working in composition with Vincent Persichetti and Roger Sessions, in solfège with Renée Longy, piano with Joseph Bloch and with Joseph Rollino privately in Rome.
HONG-DA CHIN
Malaysian composer Hong-Da Chin enjoys immersing himself in the process of translating images and words into music. His musical voice draws inspiration from poctry, novella, and visual arts. Chin was a winner of the Bent Frequency 2022 Call for Scores and a finalist of the ASU Gammage Beyond and ASU Symphony Orchestra Commission Competition in 2018. Chin's music has been performed in the United States, Germany, France, Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania, Austria, Poland, Isracl, Mexico, Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines and Singapore. The ensembles and performers that have performed his music include the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, No Exit New Music Ensemble, Khasma Piano Duo, New Thread Quartet, Ogni Suono Saxophone Duo, Bent Frequency, Patchwork, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Altered Sound Duo, Marilyn Shrude, John Sampen, Doug Perkins, among others. His music has been featured at the Spoleto Festival USA, World Saxophone Congress, North American Saxophone Alliance, Asian Composers League Festival and Conference, Society of Composers National Conference, Electronic Music Midwest, Society of Composers National Conference, WIU New Music Festival, University of Nebraska at Kearney New Music Festival, Bowling Green New Music Festival, NEOSonic Festival, Threshold Festival, Electroacoustic Barn Dance, Rasquache Artist Residency, Avaloch Farm Institute, among others. In addition to his work as a composer Chin is an accomplished Chinese flutist specializing in contemporary music. He has performed at venues such as the Carnegie Hall (NYC), Alice Tully Hall (NYC), John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington D.C.), Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC), Asia Society (NYC), Phillips Collection (Washington D.C.), Huntington Library (LA), Smithsonian Institution (Washington D.C..), Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park (Chicago), Art Institute of Chicago, and Silesian T'heatre (Katowice, Poland). Chin carned a Doctor of Musical Arts from BGSU in December 2017 studying with Marilyn Shrude and Mikel Kuchn. Chin is faculty of Composition and Music Theory at Western Illinois University, a member of the ADJeective Composers'
Collective and the Society of Malaysian Contemporary Composers.
His eclectic compositional style arises as an idiosyncratic integration of seemingly conflicting influences – from avant-garde approaches to harmonic structure, form, and timbre, to pop-folk modal and rhythmical concepts – amalgamated into a personal evocative musical language, characterized by rhythmic verve, melodic grace, dramatic (and sometimes unexpectedly humorous) gestures, and ritualistic or theatrical elements. The latter feature has also led Paraskevas to create films, notably the acclaimed I Finally Did It (Gold award, California Film Awards 2010), dealing wittily with Death, a recurring extra-musical theme in his music.
Publishers: Hal Leonard (USA), Bèrben (Ancona, Italy), Schott (Germany), Papagrigoriou-Nakas (Athens, Greece), Silver Sickle Productions (USA), Centaur Records, Bridge Records (USA). -The Groves Dictionary of Music, Costas Tsougras
JAMES RUSSELL SMITH
Jim served as a faculty member at several universities, notably the University of Wyoming, Middle Tennessee State University, and finally the Berklee College of Music in Boston. At Berklee, he had a distinguished career spanning over 30 years as a professor of Classical Theory and Composition in the Professional Writing Division, as well as serving for many years as the department’s assistant chair. Smith has received commissions from the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Southampton Youth Symphony of England, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, and Boston’s Back Bay Chorale, among others.
ERIN MERCERUIO NELSON, soprano
Hailed as “secure and sonorous” with a “bright, flexible voice” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), soprano Erin Merceruio Nelson is quickly becoming known for her signature blend of impeccable musicianship and strong dramatic instincts across a broad range of challenging repertoire. An avid performer of new and contemporary music, Erin’s 2023-2024 season performances include the role of Ruth in the East Coast premier of Awakenings by Tobias Picker with Odyssey Opera as well as multiple roles in a new set of chamber operas with White Snake Projects. Erin will also premiere a new work for orchestra and soloists titled “In Her Element” by Francine Trester with the Kendall Square Orchestra. In past seasons, Erin created the role of The Nymph in the the world premiere of NIGHTTOWN by Benjamin P. Wenzelberg with Lowell House Opera at Harvard University, premiered the chamber work Tide Flowers by composer Geoffrey Gibbs at the University of Rhode Island as the soprano soloist, and appeared as Bea in Jakem Heggie’s Three Decembers with TBD Opera Project under the direction of Sharon Daniels. Erin’s 2023-2024 season also includes the role of First Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute with MassOpera.
Other recent performances include Lady Clarence in Odyssey Opera’s concert production of Saint-Saëns’ Henry VIII, First Lady and Papagena in The Magic Flute with the Nahant Music Festival. Erin was also featured in Odyssey Opera’s production of Strauss’ Die ägyptische Helena and covered the role of Cunégonde in Opera del West’s production of Bernstein’s Candide. Throughout the pandemic, Erin took part in several outdoor concerts with NEMPAC and Opera on Tap Boston. Also recently, Erin was thrilled to be named a Finalist in the Vermont Vocal Competition in Brandon, VT. Other favorite roles on the opera stage have included Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen, Almirena in Handel’s Rinaldo, Clorinda in Rossini’s Cinderella, Helena in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Kupava in Rimsky-Korsakov’s beloved fairy-tale, Snegurochka. She has performed these roles through her longtime association with companies throughout the East Coast, including The Boston Conservatory, Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, Juventas New Music Ensemble, MetroWest Opera (now MASS Opera), NEMPAC Opera Project, Odyssey Opera, Opera Breve (NY), Opera del West, Opera on Tap Boston, and Piccola Opera.
Picture A native of Martinsburg, West Virginia, Erin holds an M.M. in Vocal Performance from The Boston Conservatory and a B.M. in Vocal Performance from Shenandoah University in Virginia.
EILEEN HUANG, piano
Acclaimed as an “estimable pianist” and “sensitive partner” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), Eileen Huang is a frequent collaborator with the Boston-area’s finest instrumentalists and vocalists.
Her performance with Boston Symphony Orchestra principal bassist Edwin Barker and violinist Yevgeny Kutik at the Rockport Chamber Music Festival received praise for its “poise and polish,” “soft delicacy,” and “tasteful rubato” (Boston Classical Review). Eileen also appeared at the Tanglewood Music Festival with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, conductor James Burton, and BSO Associate Concertmaster Alexander Velinzon.
Eileen has been a rehearsal pianist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Emmanuel Music, and the Boston City Singers. In 2010 she joined the music staff at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, serving as a piano instructor, collaborative pianist, coach, and interim chair of the piano program. Also an accomplished soprano, Eileen appeared as a concert soloist with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and Wellesley Choral Society and was selected by James Levine to cover the soprano solo for the world premiere of William Bolcom’s Eighth Symphony. She was one of eight vocalists featured during the inaugural season of the Nahant Music Festival in 2014, and again in 2015.
As both pianist and soprano, Eileen has premiered several works by composer Francine
Trester. Of her title role in Trester’s opera, Sleeping Beauty, the Boston Musical
Intelligencer wrote, “Eileen Huang did vocal justice as the sleepy star of the show with a fine sense of humor and style.” From 2006 to 2018, Eileen was a member of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and performed more than 100 concerts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops. With the TFC, Eileen participated in the BSO’s Grammy award-winning recording of Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, had the honor of singing at Senator Ted Kennedy’s funeral, and sang the national anthem at Fenway Park.
Raised in New Jersey, Eileen made her concerto debut at age 11 with the Battleground Arts Center Symphony Orchestra and was featured as a chamber musician at Alice Tully Hall at age 17. She received her training at the Juilliard School and the Aspen Music Festival and School, where she studied with the late Herbert Stessin, and holds a degree in chemistry from MIT.
DAVID RUSSELL, cello
Hailed as “superb”, “incisive” and “sonorous and panoramic” (Boston Globe), David Russell maintains a vigorous schedule both as soloist and as collaborator in the U.S. and Europe. He was appointed to the teaching faculty of Wellesley College in 2005 and currently serves as Lecturer and Director of Chamber Music. He has served as Principal cello of the orchestras of Odyssey Opera and Opera Boston since 2010 and performs regularly with many ensembles based in New England such as Cantata Singers and Ensemble, the Worcester Chamber Music Society and Emmanuel Music. A strong advocate of new music, Russell has performed and recorded with contemporary ensembles such as Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Firebird Ensemble, Ludovico Ensemble, Callithumpian Consort, Music on the Edge, Dinosaur Annex, Collage, the Fromm Players at Harvard, and entelechron. Recent projects include recordings of cello concertos by Chen Yi and Lukas Foss, recordings of solo and chamber works by Lee Hyla, Eric Moe, Tamar Diesendruck, Donald Crockett, Andrew Rindfleisch and Roger Zahab as well as premieres of music by David Lang, Barbara White, Marti Epstein, Daron Hagen, José-Luis Hurtado, Robert Carl, Gilda Lyons, and Jorge Martin. Russell has also recently premiered works for cello and orchestra by Laurie San Martin and Samuel Nichols, as well as works for solo cello by Tamar Diesendruck, Andrew Rindfleisch, and John Mallia. Russell has recorded for the Tzaddik, Albany, BMOPSound, CRI, Centaur and New World Records labels.
ORLANDO CELA, flute
“In Orlando Cela’s able hands and imagination, a flute becomes a world orchestra,” says the Oregon ArtsWatch about Orlando’s lively performances that open new worlds of experience. Known for his compelling renditions, using imaginative programming,
Orlando has premiered over 200 works, both as a conductor and a flutist, to rave reviews from the national media. In concert, Mr. Cela regularly offers short lively introductions to selected works, providing audiences with entry points into unfamiliar works, so that listeners can easily connect the music with other life experience. Mr. Cela has performed at the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian (Washington DC), the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston), and at the Center for New Music and Technologies at UC Berkeley. His credits abroad include concerts at the Zentrum Danziger (Berlin), the Espace des Femmes (Paris), and at the Musikverein (Vienna). As a collaborative artist, Mr. Cela has concertized with flutist Paula Robison, tabla player Samir Chatterjee, harpsichordist John Gibbons, and with shen (mouth organ) virtuoso Hu Jianbing. He recently became a finalist in the American Prize in the professional instrumentalist division. He recently released his third solo CD, “Shadow Etchings” with rave reviews from Grammophone, Naxos Music, and Avant Music News. Orlando is also the conductor of the Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lowell Chamber Orchestra, and the NC Governor’s School Orchestra.
As a conductor, he serves as the Music Director of the Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Lowell Chamber Orchestra, and he is the former music director of the Orchestra of the North Carolina Governor’s School. He has also guest conducted the Manchester Symphony Orchestra and Choral, the London Classical Soloists, Marquette Symphony Orchestra, and others. He created the Ningbo Symphony Orchestra during his year as visiting professor at Ningbo University, in China. Orlando has received the American Prize for conducting youth and community orchestras, the Vytautas Marijosius Prize for orchestral programming, and the Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for excellence in the performance of American music. His interpretation of Beethoven’s Symphonies 7 and 8 with the London Classical Soloists earned him a second prize with their competition. A dedicated music educator, Orlando is known for his dynamic workshops and lecture demonstrations. Popular and effective as a guest lecturer and clinician, he has presented sessions at Tulane University, UC Berkeley, and Brandeis University, as well as at the Central Conservatory of Music in China, the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart (Germany), and the Charlotte New Music Festival (NC).
Mr. Cela has also lectured on general performance practice issues at flute festivals in Ithaca and Syracuse, and at in China at Dulwich College (Beijing) and Shanghai Normal
University. He currently is assistant professor at Berklee College of Music, where he teaches conducting, and at Middlesex Community College, where he teaches a variety of music courses and is the coordinator of the MCC Music Outreach Program. Orlando has two masters degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied flute performance and conducting with Paula Robison and Tamara Brooks, respectively.
APOSTOLOS PARASKEVAS, guitar
Apostolos Paraskevas is a classical guitarist, composer, award-winning film director, and producer. He has received multiple international awards for his compositions and was nominated for a Grammy Award. He is the only guitarist ever to have a major orchestral piece performed at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Lukas Foss, and the only musician to perform there in a Grim Reaper outfit. He has made over a dozen recordings of his music, and his orchestral music has been performed around the world by numerous symphony orchestras, including Albany, Boston Landmarks, Boston University, Newton, National Festival, Atlantic, Odessa, National Greek, Cyprus, Florida International University, Thessaloniki Municipal Symphony orchestras, and Boston Civic Orchestra. He was the founder and served 16 years as the artistic director of the International Guitar Congress Festival of Corfu, Greece. He is a voting member of the Recording Academy (Grammys) and a Professor of Music at Berklee College of Music.
After his undergraduate music studies in Volos, he pursued advanced studies in classical guitar with Costas Cotsiolis (diploma, 1990) and Leo Brouwer (Havana, 1984, 1988), as well as postgraduate studies in composition with Lukas Foss and Theodore Antoniou (DMA in composition, Boston University, 1998). Paraskevas embarked on a successful career as a guitar soloist and contemporary composer, achieving distinctions in both disciplines: a Grammy nomination for Chase Dance (Bridge Records, 1999); first prize for Night Wanderings (Lukas Foss Composition Competition, 2000); first prize for Phygein Adynaton (National Composers Conference, 1997); and numerous prestigious commissions, performances, and publications. Following teaching posts at Northeastern and Boston Universities, Paraskevas has taught at the Berklee College of Music in Boston since 2001 (professor of composition and classical guitar). Although he was struck by focal hand dystonia in 2009, he recovered in 2013 after reconstructing his playing technique.
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