Bulgarian-born violinist Joana Genova, co-artistic director of Taconic Music, has built a diverse career as a chamber and orchestral musician, soloist, recitalist, and teacher. Jim Lowe of The Rutland Herald has written of her, “Genova played with an infectious mix of passion and warmth, coupled with the requisite virtuosity.”

Joana performs at festivals and concert series with The Indianapolis Quartet, Vermont Symphony’s Jukebox Quartet, Taconic String Quartet, and as a guest musician, appearing at venues throughout United States and Europe, most recently in Italy and Bulgaria. 

Joana serves as Artist Associate at Williams College and Violin Instructor at Bennington College. Previously, she was Adjunct Professor and Coordinator of Chamber Music at Montclair State University’s John J. Cali School of Music, and Assistant Professor of Violin and Director of String Activities at the University of Indianapolis.

Collaborations include The Shanghai Quartet, Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, Horszowski Trio, Andrés Cárdenes, Carmit Zori, Nathaniel Rosen, Nathaniel Parke, Danwen Jiang, Austin Hartman, Renee Jolles, Michael Rudiakov, Tom Landschoot, Sophie Shao, Roberta Cooper, Jon Klibonoff, Ruth Laredo, Gili Melamed-Lev, Davide Cabassi, David Krakauer, Deborah Buck, Duo Jalal, Raman Ramakrishnan, Heather Braun, Willis Delony, Eugene Drucker, and Drew Petersen, among others. She has appeared live on GNAT-TV and CAT-TV in Vermont, WISH-TV Indianapolis, WQXR Albany, Vermont Public Radio, and WBAA and WICR in Indiana. Joana’s recordings include Chamber Music of Vittorio Giannini; Vision: Music of the 20th and 21st Centuries; Four Seasons x2: Piazzolla and Vivaldi; Reflections and Whimsies: Chamber Music for Strings and Voice by Frank Felice; Mark Ortwein: Stretching Boundaries; Robert Paterson’s String Quartets 1-3; Maxine Linehan’s This Time of Year, and Stephen Dankner: Four Sonatas for Violin and Piano with Willis Delony.

As a soloist, Joana has been featured with the Metropolitan, Rockaway, Danbury, and Berkshire symphonies, Adelphi Chamber Orchestra, Harlem Chamber Players, Manchester Festival Orchestra, Yonkers Philharmonic, and under the baton of Raymond Leppard with the University of Indianapolis Gala Orchestra. She is principal second violinist of the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra and has appeared as a guest concertmaster of the Carmel Symphony, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic and Viva Bach Festival. Joana has been member of Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Amsterdam Bach Consort, Brooklyn Philharmonic and New Haven Symphony.  

A graduate of the National School of Music and Dance “Dobrin Petkov” in Plovdiv, where she made her solo debut at age 12 with the Plovdiv Chamber Orchestra, Joana is a top prizewinner of Bulgaria’s “Svetoslav Obretenov” National Competition. She earned her bachelor’s degree at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and her Master’s in Chamber Music at the Rotterdam Conservatory in The Netherlands. Her teachers include Boyanka Shopova, Alexander Spirov, Peter Brunt, Ilya Grubert, and Samuel Thaviu. Joana performs on a Johannes Cuypers violin made in The Hague in 1786.

Violist and conductor Ariel Rudiakov is co-founder and Artistic Director of Taconic Music. He currently serves on the faculty of Bennington College and enjoys a busy and diverse musical life. As violist, he has performed to critical acclaim throughout much of the U.S. and abroad.

In recent years Ariel has performed at the Kawai a Ledro Festival in Italy, Pikes Falls Chamber Music Festival in Vermont, and as guest violist of the Hyperion String Quartet, among others. He is a former member of the New York Piano Quartet and Equinox String Quartet, and a founding member and past president of SONYC (String Orchestra of New York City). Ariel was Artistic Director of the Manchester Music Festival from 2000 to 2016. Among his recordings are the complete string quartets by Camille Saint-Saëns and the piano quintet by Vittorio Giannini (MSR Classics), which Fanfare magazine described as “utterly superb.”  Composers Richard Lane, Philip Lasser and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson have dedicated solo and string orchestra works to him.

At the podium, Ari is Music Director and conductor of the Danbury Symphony Orchestra and Yonkers Philharmonic, and is Assistant conductor of the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra, with whom he guest conducted this year.

Past resident and guest conducting positions have included the Adelphi Chamber Orchestra, Metropolitan Symphony, Bergen, and Yonkers Philharmonics, Antara Ensemble, Manchester Chamber Orchestra, Harlem Chamber Players, Sage City Symphony, and recording sessions with Dance Theater of Harlem.

Ariel attended pre-college at the Manhattan School of Music and went on to receive Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at SUNY Purchase and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He was a scholarship student at Yale University’s master’s program, where he studied viola with Jesse Levine and chamber music with members of the Tokyo String Quartet. Ari plays a viola made in 2000 by Geoffrey Ovington.

Heather Braun performs as first violinist of the prize-winning Arneis Quartet and as a member of the Orchestra of Emmanuel Music and Taconic Chamber Players. Heather began teaching violin and chamber music at the Boston University School of Music in 2014 and joined the Saint Anselm College faculty in 2016. She has performed throughout the United States, Canada, China, and Italy, including venues such as the Beijing Modern Music Festival, Cabot Theater, Concord Free Library, Frederick Collection, Music on Main (Vancouver), Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Stanford University, Swarthmore College, University of Indianapolis, and Williams College.

Heather has performed as a soloist with various orchestras in Boston, Milwaukee, Washington DC, Danbury, CT and Manchester, VT. She has performed as visiting concertmaster for the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra and as a guest artist with the Greenwich Chamber Players. Other chamber music and solo collaborations include performances with Tony Arnold, Randall Hodgkinson, Marc Johnson, Robert Levin, St. Lawrence String Quartet, and Shanghai Quartet.

Heather earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Boston University, studying with Peter Zazofsky. While a Tanglewood Music Center Fellow, she received the Jules C. Reiner Violin Prize; other awards received include the Zulalian Foundation Award (BU), the John Lad Prize (Stanford University) and Silver Medal at the ICMEC Competition.

Heather is on the faculty at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Taconic Chamber Music Intensive, and Danbury Chamber Music Intensive. She has taught at Point Counterpoint, Duxbury Music Festival, Manchester Music Festival, and Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music. Her recordings include chamber music by John Wallace, as a violinist soloist and member of the orchestra for Bach Cantatas with soprano Kendra Colton, and on Elena Ruehr’s latest album, Icarus, released in the spring of 2022 and featured on NPR and BBC Proms.

In a performing career spanning over four decades, pianist Willis Delony has won acclaim as one of the nation’s leading classical/jazz crossover artists. His innovative concert explorations of the two musical worlds are showcased in a series of solo piano recordings on the Centaur label. A New World A' Comin' – Classical and Jazz Connections was released in 2001. Double Dance – Classical and Jazz Connections II was released in 2008. Out of Character – Classical and Jazz Connections III, was released in October 2014. His most recent recording is an independent release entitled Butterfly Room – Connections for Solo Piano. Previous album credits include a recording of sonatas by Samuel Barber and Sergei Prokofiev, also on the Centaur label, and a jazz album entitled Civilized Conversations, featuring Willis and bassist Bill Grimes. He collaborated with bassoonist William Ludwig on the Mark Records release, Rhapsody in Bassoon, which features the world premiere recording of André Previn’s Sonata for Bassoon and Piano. His most recent recorded collaboration is with LSU colleague, oboist Johanna Cox Pennington, on her new album Orion Nocturne, released by Albany Records.

Willis has appeared as piano soloist, guest pianist/arranger or conductor with orchestras throughout the United States as well as orchestras in Canada, the former Soviet Union and China. As a solo and collaborative recitalist, he has performed classical and jazz concerts throughout the U.S. – including a solo recital at Carnegie Hall (October, 2014) – as well as France, Germany, the former Soviet Union, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil and Argentina. He has performed with many of the nation’s leading jazz artists and is co-host/pianist for Louisiana State University’s popular concert series Hot Summer Nights – Cool Jazz. His pops orchestra arrangements have been performed throughout the U.S. and Canada, including over 50 scores written for the Minneapolis-based jazz vocal quintet Five By Design, with whom he has recorded two albums. He has worked for many years with Baton Rouge producer/sound engineer Joey Decker of Disk Productions, co-creating dozens of award-winning commercial soundtracks for clients nationwide. He collaborates regularly with leading contemporary composers, having recently premiered the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by Stephen Dankner with the LSU Symphony Orchestra. He has recorded and performed solo piano works by Paris-based American composer Joseph Makholm, as well as solo piano works by jazz composer Les Hooper. In January 2017, he premiered Greg Yasinitsky’s Jazz Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. In part due to the strength of this performance, the work was awarded The American Prize in composition. In October of 2017, Willis was the featured performer and clinician for the North Carolina Music Teachers Association annual convention, and recently returned from Paris where he presented a lecture/recital on the music of Bill Evans at the IMEP Paris College of Music as well as a solo recital at the Bill Evans Piano Academy.

Willis is the Boyd Professor of Piano and Jazz Studies in the School of Music at Louisiana State University, where he has been a member of the music faculty since 2000. From 1986-2000 he served on the music faculty at Southeastern Louisiana University and is a former member of the music faculty at Delta State University. He is a past recipient of an Artist Fellowship awarded by the Louisiana Division of the Arts, as well as the Edith Kirkpatrick Arts Leadership Award given by the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. He is also a recent recipient of the LSU Distinguished Faculty Award. Willis was a longtime student of the late Jack Guerry at Louisiana State University, and also studied with pianist Ann Schein at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, MD.

Hannah Holman joined the New York City Ballet Orchestra at the beginning of the 2012-2013 season. Her career has encompassed orchestral and chamber music, solo performances, and teaching. In a review of the second CD she recorded with pianist Réne Lecuona, Fanfare magazine declares "her tone and technique are the stuff that cello legends are made of "... Holman's cello sings with a lustrous tone that's hard to resist."
In addition to her work with the New York City Ballet Orchestra, Hannah is the principal cellist of the Quad City Symphony, a position she has held since 2008. She began her professional career in England playing with the English String Orchestra under Yehudi Menuhin and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Simon Rattle. Her previous orchestral work also includes serving as assistant principal cello with the Michigan Chamber Orchestra, the Richmond Symphony; and the American Sinfonietta.

Hannah is fortunate to have a diverse career allowing much time for solo work.  She is currently in postproduction of CD #3 with Réne Lecuona featuring cello sonatas by women composers from the past. In 2022 Hannah performed Jerome Robbin’s Suite of Dances on stage as part of the NYCB Move’s tour to the Vail Dance Festival and Schelomo by Bloch with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. Other recent engagements with the QCSO have been the Korngold’s Cello Concerto and Jennifer Higdon’s Soliquoy, which she also played with the Solomon Chamber Orchestra in Indiana. Hannah is in the middle of a video project highlighting the lives of women cellists from the past and performed six pieces with the Iowa City Community Chamber Orchestra, each piece focusing on a different cellist.  In 2020 she performed in Carnegie Hall as part of the Bach Cello Suite Festival, celebrating 300 years of the cello suites.  Upcoming concerto appearances include the Korngold’s Concerto with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra in her hometown. 

An active chamber musician, Hannah is a founding member of Trio 826, with Susanna Klein, violin and Julia Bullard, viola, the Beaumont Piano Trio, which performed around the United States and England, and Quadrivinium, an ensemble in residence at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. From 2002-2011, she was a member of the Maia Quartet, the University of Iowa's quartet in residence, which toured China, Japan, and the US, including teaching residencies at Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Great Wall International Music Academy in China, and the Austin Chamber Music Center. She regularly performs in chamber ensembles with musicians from throughout the United States.

 A dedicated private teacher who finds great fulfillment in helping students of all ages grow musically, Hannah was on the University of Iowa faculty from 2002-2012 and has served on the faculties of the University of Northern Iowa, Biola Conservatory, Worcester College (UK), Michigan State University Community School, and Virginia Union University. She has participated in numerous festivals and has been on the faculty of the Eastern Music Festival since 2001 and currently teaches at the International Cello Institute, the Five Seasons Music Festival, and Taconic Music.  Hannah is the founder and Artistic Director of a new music school based in the Quad Cities, The Deanery School of Music.

Hannah studied at the Eastman School of Music and Michigan State University, where she completed her Bachelor of Music degree. She obtained her Master of Music Degree with Fritz Magg at the New England Conservatory. Her musical education began at age 5 with her grandmother, whose 1925 Becker cello she plays today. She is eternally grateful for the fine teaching of a transformative teacher, Louis Potter, during her junior high and high school years.

Hannah - whose hobbies include foodie and thrifting activities, as well as traveling to new places- divides her time between NYC and Iowa City, Iowa, where she lives with her son, Matisse, and their cat, Ripley. 

Praised for his charismatic playing and his virtuoso and poetic music making, Belgian cellist Thomas Landschoot enjoys an international career as a concert and recording artist and pedagogue. He has toured North America, Europe, South America and Asia and has appeared on national radio and television worldwide. He has soloed with the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Frankfurt Chamber Orchestra, Tempe Symphony, Prima la Musica, Symphony of the Southwest, Shieh Chien Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of Flanders, Scottsdale Philharmonic, Bucharest Festival Orchestra, Flemish Symphony Orchestra, Kaohsiung City Symphony, Loja Symphony Orchestra in Ecuador and the Orchestra of the United States Army Band, and has appeared at Bargemusic, Park City, Santa Barbara, Mammoth Lakes, Eureka, Utah, Red Rock, Park City, Manchester, Fresno, Madeline Island, Waterloo, Killington and Texas Music Festivals. His recordings are available on Summit, Organic, Kokopelli, ArchiMusic and Centaur Records. He is a member of world class Rossetti Quartet.

Tom has also performed with the Takacs, Dover and Arianna Quartets and members of the Cleveland, Vermeer, Tokyo, and Orion Quartets. Past collaborations include Lynn Harrell, Peter Wiley, Gilbert Kalich, Cho-Liang Lin, Martin Beaver and Martin Katz. An avid promoter of music of our time, he has commissioned and premiered over 20 new works for cello, including concerti by Dirk Brosse and Frank Nuyts. He has served as a faculty member at the Music Academy of the West, Castleman Quartet Program, Killington, Meadowmount, Foulger International, High Peaks, Madeline Island, Manchester, Montecito, and Texas Music Festival. Tom has given masterclasses at conservatories and universities throughout Asia, the U.S., Europe and South America. Tom teaches at the Arizona State University; his students can be found among the ranks of national and international competition winners, occupy principal positions in major orchestras and teach at Universities around the US and abroad. Thomas Landschoot is the Artistic Director of the Sonoran Chamber Music Festival, as well as the President of the Arizona Cello Society. He performs on a cello by Tomaso Balestrieri (1776) and a Dominique Pecatte bow.

Acclaimed young American pianist Drew Petersen is a sought-after soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. He has been praised for his commanding and poetic performances of repertoire ranging from Bach to Zaimont. He is the recipient of the 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant and winner of the 2017 American Pianists Awards and Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship.

The 24/25 season began with a return to the Terre Haute Symphony and included recitals in series from Fresno, CA to Boise, ID and Plainfield, IN with a program ranging from Mozart to Liszt and John Adams.

2018 marked the release of Drew’s first solo recording of music by Barber, Carter, and other American composers on the Steinway & Sons label, for which BBC Music Magazine acknowledged his presence as a rising star.

A frequent radio contributor, Drew has performed on McGraw-Hill Young Artists Showcase, From the Top, and Performance Today. Profiles include The New York Times, New York magazine, and the documentary “just normal” by award-winning director Kim A. Snyder. A champion of chamber music, Drew has appeared on French radio’s France Musique while a member of a Verbier Festival piano trio.

Drew Petersen’s firm belief in the importance of music in contemporary society led to collaborations with Young Audiences NY that presents performances in New York City’s public schools. His appearance in Andrew Solomon’s New York Times-bestselling book, Far From the Tree, sparked a nation-wide conversation on raising extraordinary and different children who test the willpower and capabilities of their families and society. Drew continually advocates for the necessity of classical music and other arts in society, and was named a 2006 Davidson Fellow for his portfolio entitled “Keeping Classical Music Alive.”

New England-based pedal and traditional Scottish harpist Rachel Clemente has had a passion for music from the early age of 5. She began her harp training as a student of the Suzuki method and is now a certified Suzuki teacher and avid supporter of the methodology.

She is a graduate of the renowned arts boarding high school Interlochen Arts Academy and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in traditional Scottish music. Her accolades include winner of the U.S National Scottish Harp Championship in 2016 and winner of the Princess Margaret of the Isles Clàrsach Competition (USA) in 2021.

Since moving to Vermont in 2019, Rachel has focused on establishing herself in the New England folk scene as a soloist as well as performing in her duo, If You Must Know, with bagpiper Dan Houghton. She works to provide access to the lever harp and traditional Scottish music through her harp building program, Hands on Harps, and by offering lessons, classes, and workshops throughout New England.

Currently, Rachel is recording her debut solo album which features much of her instrumental compositional work, which is heavily influenced by traditional Scottish and Gaelic melodies.

Matthew Lee is a Boston-based flutist, conductor, and educator originally from New Zealand. Matthew has performed throughout New England and beyond, appearing on the stages of Boston’s Symphony Hall, New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, and the Sydney Opera House. He can be heard frequently performing with the Portland (ME) Symphony Orchestra, Boston Landmarks Orchestra, Boston Ballet Orchestra, and numerous other ensembles. He has performed with the Albany Symphony (NY) and served as the primary flute substitute for the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra (NZ) for many years, frequently stepping into roles as principal flute and principal piccolo.

Dedicated to education, Matthew is currently a teacher with the Wellesley Public Schools (MA), while concurrently managing a thriving private studio catering to students of all ages and skill levels. His commitment to sharing his expertise extends to conducting; he has conducted the Boston University (BU) Wind Ensemble, BU Concert Band, University of North Texas Wind Symphony, briefly held the role of interim director for the Gisborne (NZ) Concert Band, and has led sectional rehearsals with the BU All-Campus Orchestra. He has given masterclasses and presentations at Boston University and the University of Rhode Island, and served as a teaching assistant at the BU Tanglewood Institute. In the past, he was Instructor of Flute and Chamber Music at BU, where he provided private lessons and coached chamber music for non-major students.

As a conductor, Matthew honed his skills by attending conducting masterclasses across the United States and New Zealand, learning from renowned figures such as Eugene Corporon, Mallory Thompson, Rupert D’Cruze, Andrew Withington, and Helen Renaud. He also engaged in regular private study with Professor David Martins.

Matthew earned both his undergraduate and master's degrees at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and continued his studies at Boston University. His musical journey has been profoundly influenced by such teachers as Anthony Ferner, Linda Toote, Ann Bobo, Sharon Sparrow and Elizabeth Rowe. He has participated in masterclasses led by Lorna McGhee, Emily Beynon, Julien Beaudiment, Alberto Almarza, Leone Buyse, Cynthia Meyers, Jim Walker, and Mark Sparks.

Matthew has been playing on Haynes flutes since 2012. In 2023, he acquired his 14k Custom Flute with a 14k headjoint and platinum riser from Flutistry Boston. He is honored to be recognized as a Haynes Young Artist.

Pianist Gili Melamed-Lev is an engaging, multi-faceted artist known for her vision, innovative programing, and unique artistry. She is the co-founder and artistic director of Jazz and Classics for Change, which offers jazz and classical programming to diverse audiences in the Hudson Valley (NY) and the Berkshires (MA). Remaining true to her mission to connect and to heal through music in our ever-changing world, Gili strives to bring audiences together through the poetic and life affirming experience of music and the belief that it enriches our lives, sparks ideas, serves as a refuge, and provides us with an infinite source of beauty.

Gili has performed throughout the US, Europe and Canada, in collaboration with such prominent musicians as Eugene Drucker, Kenneth Cooper, Krista Bennion-Feeney, Jenia Pikovsky, Joel Pitchon, Joana Genova, William Frampton, Dima Ratush, Ariel Rudiakov, David Cerutti, Roberta Cooper, Ashley Bathgate, Serafim Smigelskiy, Ronald Feldman, Inbal Segev, Linor Katz, Peter Weitzner, John Feeney, Paul Green, Gili Sharett, Judith Mendenhall, Eugenia Zukerman, Lior Eitan, Omri Rave, Michael Slatkin, Uzi Shalev, Amanda Boyd-Grout and Lucille Beer, among others.

She was the founder and, from 2012–2020, Artistic Director of The Concerts at Camphill Ghent. A soloist, chamber musician, and collaborative artist, Gili is a member of the Lev-Evans duo with pianist Mark Evans; she is also an educator, having coached, performed, and given masterclasses at Williams College, Bard College, and her private studio. She garnered rave reviews for her collaboration with Australian actor John McManus during their extended tour of The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico. Additional partnerships include the Actors’ Ensemble and Walking the Dog Theater.

Born in Jerusalem, Gili Melamed-Lev was a scholarship student at The Juilliard School, Montclair State College (NJ), and Jerusalem’s Rubin Academy.

Cuban-American cellist Dr. Tommy Mesa has established himself as one of the most charismatic, innovative, and engaging performers of his generation. The recipient of Lincoln Center’s 2025 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Sphinx Organization’s 2023 Medal of Excellence, its highest honor, Mesa has appeared as soloist at the Supreme Court of the United States on four occasions and with major orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Indianapolis, Madison, New Jersey, San Antonio, and Santa Barbara, among others. Mesa gave the world premiere of Jessie Montgomery’s cello concerto Divided in 2022 and has been the exclusive soloist since, performing at major halls across the United States and Brazil including Miami’s New World Center, Nashville’s Schermerhorn Center, and Carnegie Hall. His orchestral recording debut of the work was released in July 2023 on Deutsche Grammophon.

In addition to serving as Artist in Residence with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in the 2024-25 season, orchestral highlights this season include debuts with the Delaware, Glacier, and Rogue Valley Symphony Orchestras as well as the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, a return to the Madison Symphony, and a performance of the rarely heard Lucid Dreams by Canadian composer Jocelyn Morlock with the Windsor Symphony. Last season Mesa celebrated enthusiastic performances with the Calgary and Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestras and the Ann Arbor, Columbus, Greenwich, Knoxville, Quad City, and Reading  Symphony Orchestras, among others.