Musicians
2020-2021 Season
Jacob Swanson
Hailed as a “soloist with impeccable taste,” and praised by audiences and composers for his "gorgeous, lyrical tone, spectacular technique, and heartfelt musicality ..." for presenting "the soprano saxophone at the height of its beauty," Jacob Swanson has performed throughout North America and Europe on concert series, television, and radio.
Swanson's debut album, Invisible Cities, featured works for soprano saxophone and piano (James Welch) and was met with critical acclaim for "remind[ing] us what a beautiful instrument the soprano saxophone is ... [performing with] handsome tone, flawless technique, and great musical sensibilities."-ClevelandClassical His second album, wired., featured music for soprano saxophone and electronic medium - nearly all composer/performer collaborations. Swanson has additionally recorded with Andrew Cote as part of his debut album, Ulterior Motives.
Sarah Marchitelli
Sarah Marchitelli co-founded the Decho Ensemble in 2011 with Jacob Swanson and, in 2018, joined the Megalopolis Saxophone Orchestra. An active chamber musician, Sarah has performed throughout North America and Europe. She serves on faculty at the State University of New York at Fredonia (Music Education/Music History) and teaches woodwinds for Infinity Visual and Performing Arts in Jamestown, New York.
Sarah holds both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the State University of New York at Fredonia. Her teachers have included saxophonists Dr. Wildy Zumwalt, Christopher Oldfield, Carina Raschèr, and Harry White.
Alison d’Amato
Pianist Dr. Alison d'Amato is passionately engaged as performer and teacher in the full spectrum of collaborative music genres, particularly skilled in song and text-based projects. She is Artistic Co-Director of Florestan Recital Project, Assistant Professor of Vocal Coaching at Eastman School of Music, and Lecturer in Voice at University at Buffalo. In all these activities, Alison is dedicated to energizing the relationships and communication in music and bringing students’ love for music to the forefront of their work.
Alison has developed several projects that explore interdisciplinary collaborations and new approaches to the performer-audience relationship. She is Program Co-Director of Art Song Lab (www.artsonglab.com), an intensive that presents new songs in collaboration with composers, poets, and performers. Since 2003, her work with Florestan Recital Project has engaged audiences and artists in a broad spectrum of art song collaborations through performances, recordings, and mentoring. In 2017, she joined the faculty of ArtsBridge’s ArtSong summer intensive, which prepares rising high school seniors for college/conservatory. In 2020, Alison began touring a unique mentoring residency project, using Robert Schumann’s Myrthen as an intensive German Lied ensemble project for undergraduates.
In addition to traditional masterclasses in collaborative repertoire, Alison has shared classes with colleagues in Humanities, musicology, poetry, composition, and performance disciplines. Recent recording projects include The Complete Songs of Virgil Thomson (New World Records), David Liptak’s Dove Songs with soprano Tony Arnold (New Focus Recordings), and Music for Violin and Piano by Joseph Achron with violinist Michael Ludwig (Naxos).
Dr. Michael Hernandez
Hailed as a “World class performer!” and “An extraordinary talent!” Michael Hernandez has been heard in concert halls throughout Germany, Switzerland, Poland, France, Holland, Austria, Italy, the UK, Canada, and the United States. He has also been broadcasted several times nationwide on NPR’s Performance Today. Recently Hernandez has appeared with the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, The San Jose Chamber Orchestra, Echo Chamber Orchestra, the Phoenix Symphony Guild, The National Music Festival Orchestra, The Hot Springs Music Festival Orchestra, The Santa Cruz Symphony, The San Jose State University Orchestra, New Century Chamber Orchestra, and The Monterey Symphony
As founding soprano saxophonist of the critically acclaimed Mana Quartet, Michael has been invited to hold residencies at dozens of music festivals and universities including Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Hot Springs Music Festival, National Music Festival, Music in the Mountains, The Taneycomo Festival Orchestra, The Festival of New American Music, Ethos New Music Festival, and the Oklahoma State Contemporary Music Festival.
Hernandez is a Key Leaves endorsing artist, as well as a D’Addario Performing Artist, and plays exclusively on Reserve Classic Reeds; he performs on an historical saxophone built to the acoustical specifications of the instrument’s inventor, Adolphe Sax. Michael’s primary teachers include Dr. Wildy Zumwalt, Dr. Ronald Caravan, Professor Patrick Meighan and Carina Raschér. Michael currently serves on the faculty of San Jose State University, and is Principal Saxophonist of the Santa Cruz Symphony.
Dr. Katherine Petersen
Soprano, Katherine Petersen specializes in the performance of 21st century music for voice/saxophone and Russian Art Song. Her doctoral dissertation “Russian Repertoire: Developmental Perspectives” investigates the paucity of Russian Song Repertoire in the American voice studio and recital hall. A Chicago based soprano, Katherine performs regularly with Folks Operetta, the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, Chicago Opera Theater, and Transgressive Theatre-Opera. Roles from her 2018/2019 season include Bessie Throckmorton (Merrie England), Brigitta (Iolanta), Contessa (Marriage of Figaro), Counsel to the Plaintiff (Trial by Jury), Lady of the Lake (Masque at Kenilworth), and Sylva Varescu (Csardas Princess). Other favorite roles include Musetta (La bohème), Valencienne (Merry Widow), Francesca (Francesca di Rimini-Rachmaninoff), and Micaëla (Carmen). Concert repertoire highlights include soprano soloist in Dona Nobis Pacem by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Barber’s Knoxville: Summer 1915, Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas brasileiras No.5, and Handel’s Messiah.
Katherine is also Assistant Professor of Voice at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago where she teaches Studio Voice and Diction for Singers. She holds a DMA in Voice Performance from Ohio State University and a MM in Pedagogy and Performance from Westminster Choir College. During her time at OSU, Katherine was head of the Swank Voice Lab for Research and Pedagogy and taught several courses including Voice Pedagogy and Advanced Measurement Techniques for Voice. She was a participant in the 2018 Voice Pedagogy Summit II at University of Southern California and the 2017 NATS Intern Program in Toronto; she was co-host of the International Voice Pedagogy Summit I at Ohio State University in 2015, as well as co-host of the NATS Summer Intern Program in 2014. She has presented research for the Hawaii International Conference for Arts and Humanities (2019), the Chicago Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (2018), the International Congress of Voice Teachers (2017), and the Pan American Vocology Association (2017).