< Back Previous Jill Lawson Next WATCH VIDEO The very talented pianist Jill Lawson was born in Mexico in 1974. She grew up in Belgium and has both American and Portuguese nationality. She learned how to read music before she learned the alphabet. Today she speaks five languages fluently, but still prefers to communicate through music rather than through words. Her music provides her with a much richer vocabulary and it lies closer to her heart. Her life experiences in the last few years have helped to further enrich her range of interpretation abilities. She feels that her way of playing has become more natural, and because of this when performing, she feels almost at one with the public. During her career, Jill won several awards and distinctions. Second prize at the International Vianna da Motta Competition sent her career off to a flying start. She travelled all over the world performing at both large and small venues. Besides solo performances with international top orchestra,s she is also very fond of chamber music. Together with her brother, she forms the duo Lawson & Lawson and works with several singers on a regular basis. At the Escola Superior de Artes Aplicadas in Castelo Branco she teaches piano and the course repertoire for singers. Jill’s piano education began when she was eight years old. She has studied, among other places, in Antwerp, and in Amsterdam with Jan Wijn and she completed her Masters in music at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore under Leon Fleisher and Ellen Mack. She has also attended several master classes with various master pianists, including Dimitri Bashkirov and Maria João Pires. Jill is planning an international comeback after a recent lull in activities during which she introduced more depth into her play. She has recorded the chamber music of Portuguese composer António Fragoso for Brilliant Classics and the complete sonatas for violin and piano of Hindemith will be released in December 2013 by Brilliant Classics.

< Back Previous Michael Chang Next Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall April 1, 2024 WATCH VIDEO Michael Chang is a 14-year-old composer and percussionist from California who began writing music and performing at age six. At seven, he premiered his first work, “School Song”, for voice, ukulele, and maracas. He began studying composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) in 2021. Recent premieres include “Forever Seeking” for viola, cello, and piano by SFCM faculty, “Ancient Mariner” by Mouthscape Choir, “Woodland Dance” by Lawson Middle School Concert Band, and the score for the animated short film Alma at the Los Angeles College of Music. Michael regularly performs on drums, marimba, and timpani and has appeared at Carnegie Hall (2023 Honors Performance Series), with the California All-State Symphonic Band, All-Northern Honor Band, and at Disneyland and Stanford University’s Jazz Showcase. He earned international recognition as “Season Top 1” in the Global Genius Music Competition 2022-2023, winning awards for marimba performance and his composition “Oboe Dance” for oboe, cello, vibraphone, and wood block. He studies percussion with Huei-Yuan Pan, piano with Dr. Christopher Koelzer, and composition with Dr. Mauricio Rodriguez at SFCM.

< Back Previous James Adler Next Composer/pianist Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall June 30, 2025 WATCH VIDEO James Adler is a pianist who “can create whatever type of music he wants at the keyboard” (Chicago Sun-Times) and a composer who writes “with uncommon imagination” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Mr. Adler made his orchestral performing debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and has appeared in recital on the Orchestra’s Allied Arts Piano Series, and the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts Series. His appearances have brought him from Chicago's Grant Park, to London's Royal Albert Hall (broadcast by the BBC), to Thesseloniki, Greece, to New York's Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Space, and the Paramount Theatre at Madison Square Garden. His extensive list of compositions is headed by Memento mori: An AIDS Requiem. Performed worldwide, recorded by AmorArtis Chorale and Orchestra, and published by Alfred Music, Memento mori features a “range of expression [that] is expansive” and is “a unique, well-crafted, emotionally rich piece” (American Record Guide). Other compositions Reflections upon a September morn (poetry by Walt Whitman); Monday's Child, performed at The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine and at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Carols of Splendour, premiered at Carnegie Hall; It’s Gotta Be America, commissioned for the Centennial Celebration of the Statue of Liberty; and Canticle For Peace, written for the opening of the 43rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. Mr. Adler is also the composer of Concerto in G for Piano and Orchestra (published by Alfred Music), the children’s “pOpera” Herbie and Carnie: A Dinosaga, the Classic Rag-time Suite for orchestra, numerous solo, chamber, and choral works, and the award-winning film score for The Hat Act. As performer and composer, Mr. Adler can be heard on recordings from Albany Records, Capstone, Navona, and Ravello Records. His album That Star in the Picture was recognized by the Global Music Awards as a Silver Medal Winner – Outstanding Achievement in the Composer; in August 2024, the album was a double award winner in the 2024 Intercontinental Music Awards Pangea Classical Category. He is a member of the Arts Department at Saint Peter's University, a National Arts Associate in the Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity, and an advisory board member of Sound Espressivo, which presents the “James Adler Audience Favorite Award” during their Laureates Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. James Adler is a recipient of the 2017 Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. www.adleroaksmusic.com Elegy Artist Management • www.elegyartistmanagement.com Worldwide: Price Attractions • www.priceattractions.com Photo Credit: Frank Gimpaya

< Back Previous John DiSanto Next Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall April 1, 2024 WATCH VIDEO John DiSanto is a versatile multi-woodwind performer based in New Jersey. He holds degrees from the Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts and New Jersey City University, earning a Master’s in multiple woodwind performance. He performs on all members of the saxophone, clarinet, and flute families, as well as bassoon. An active freelance artist in the New York area, John currently plays reed 3 on Broadway’s Disney’s Aladdin. He has held reed 2 on The Prom and Caroline or Change, and has performed as a substitute on over 30 Broadway productions. Other Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include Kid Victory (reed 2), The Unsinkable Molly Brown (reed 2), and Radio City Music Hall’s Christmas Spectacular (reed 6). John is a longtime member of the Swingadelic Big Band, appearing on their recent album Bluesville, and has recorded with Charlie Rosen’s 8-Bit Big Band, as well as Broadway and Off-Broadway cast recordings. Orchestral appearances include the New Jersey Symphony, Princeton Symphony, Queens Symphony, and New Jersey Festival Orchestra. He has also performed with the Ron Aprea Big Band featuring Lew Tabackin at Birdland Jazz Club. John resides in New Jersey with his wife, Wendy, and daughter, Charlotte.

< Back Previous Charis Dimaras Next Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall June 30, 2026 WATCH VIDEO Equally at home as solo recitalist, chamber music collaborator and orchestra soloist, Greek concert pianist & conductor, Charis Dimaras, has appeared in many of the world’s leading venues (among them at Athens’ MEGARON Concert Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Brussels’ European Union Parliament, London’s South Bank Center, Salzburg’s Mozarteum, St. Petersburg’s Yusupov Palace, Beijing’s Egg, and New York City’s Kaufman & Lincoln Centers and Carnegie Hall) and in music festivals on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as in Turkey, Russia, Brazil, India and China. A veteran master-instructor, Dr. Dimaras currently serves as Professor of Piano and Collaborative Studies and as Keyboard Area Coordinator at Ithaca College and is the 2022 recipient of the institution’s most coveted teaching honor, its Teaching Excellence Award. In addition, Dr. Dimaras has long been sought after as a guest clinician for solo piano, chamber music, and vocal coaching master classes and as an adjudicator of competitions nationally and internationally. Finally, since 2024, he has served as resident piano faculty for the annual piano program of the Chautauqua Summer Music Institute. He holds bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in piano performance from London’s Royal College of Music and New York’s Juilliard School & Manhattan School of Music, respectively, and a master's in orchestral conducting from Bard College. He has also pursued advanced German Literature studies at the University of Athens.

< Back Previous Marin Vitas Next Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall April 1, 2024 WATCH VIDEO Marin Vitas (Split, 1989) holds a Master’s degree in solo singing from the University of Mostar, studying under N. Manuilenko and A. Pljevljak-Krehić. In 2016 he made his operatic debut in the comic opera Turia i Plamenko by B. Erceg. He subsequently appeared as a soloist in the choreo-drama concert Naracija i Opera, directed by I. L. Lema, and in the musical spectacle Mozart u vrtu, conceived and conducted by I. Tatarević. In Split, under maestro E. Mihajlović, he performed the role of Ottone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea. He completed his graduate studies with a performance of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater at St. Paul’s Church in Cambridge, England. In 2019, as part of the concert series “Vinko Lesić” in Split, he earned distinction and was awarded a special prize—a masterclass with renowned Croatian mezzo-soprano Renata Pokupić. Throughout his studies Vitas regularly attended masterclasses and vocal seminars with esteemed pedagogues including Fiorenza Cedolins, Nelli Manuilenko, José van Dam, Radmila Bakočević, Egon Mihajlović, Daniela Schillaci, Renata Pokupić, among others. He continued his postgraduate development at the Academy of Music in Zagreb in the class of Renata Pokupić, with whom he performed in 2020 alongside the Croatian Baroque Ensemble (HRBA) at the Croatian House in Split. At the Academy he appeared in several projects as a soloist, including the opera Animal Farm (Snowball) under the baton of Mladen Tarbuk and directed by Krešimir Dolenčić, staged on the occasion of the Academy’s centennial and awarded the Rector’s Prize. Most recently, in autumn 2023, he performed J. S. Bach’s cantata Wiederstehe doch der Sünde with the Mostar Chamber Ensemble in the cathedrals of Mostar and Sarajevo. He continues his artistic development in Zagreb under the guidance of Željka and Neda Martić.

< Back Previous Marilyn Jia Next Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall November 24, 2024 WATCH VIDEO Marilyn Jia, violinist, began her studies at the age of six with James Greening-Valenzuela. A prizewinner in numerous competitions, her recent achievements include First Prize in both the Pelican International Competition for Young Musicians and the North California Young Talents Competition. Marilyn performs with the Young People's Symphony Orchestra in Berkeley, CA, and the East Bay Chamber Orchestra, where she has served as co-concertmaster. She recently completed Level 10 examinations in both the RCM and ASTACAP programs.

< Back Previous Emily Greene Next Vocalist Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall June 28, 2025 WATCH VIDEO Emily Greene has nurtured a passion for music, languages, and the performing arts from a very young age. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts at Bowdoin College, where she studies classical voice under Christina Astrachan. Beyond her college studies, she continues vocal training in both classical and musical theater styles with Mary Johnston Letellier, having previously studied with Samantha Loomis and Paul Stickney. A versatile musician, Emily also plays violin, guitar, and piano—her first instrument, which she began studying at age five with Portland Symphony Orchestra violinist Deirdre Oehrtmann. Emily’s love for opera began in 2016, when she joined the children’s chorus for Opera Maine’s production of Carmen, blending her musical and linguistic passions. The following year, she contributed as a librettist to the original opera Girl in Six Beats, a collaboration between Opera Maine, The Telling Room, and the University of Southern Maine. She later became a member, and eventually coordinator, of Opera Maine Teens. Her performance credits span opera, musical theater, choir, orchestra, and dance. Recent stage roles include Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Antonio in Twelfth Night, Emma Carew in Jekyll and Hyde, and Gabriella Montez in High School Musical. She has performed Susanna in scenes from The Marriage of Figaro with Portland Conservatory of Music’s Opera Summer Scenes program, appeared as a guest vocalist for PCM’s Piano Palooza (2022), and sung both as soloist and ensemble member with the Southern Maine Choral Music Academy. She has also performed in recitals for Opera Maine Teens, district and all-state festivals for both violin and voice, serving as concertmaster of the District II Instrumental Festival and achieving the highest vocal audition score at the District II Vocal Festival (2023). In addition to her artistic accomplishments, Emily has excelled academically. In high school, she was inducted into the Tri-M Music Honor Society, French Honor Society, Latin Honor Society, and the National Honor Society, earning recognition as an AP Scholar with Distinction. She received medals for the National Latin Exam (since 2020) and the Grand Concours (since 2013), as well as the B2 DELF Certification in French (2018). Emily performed at the 2024 Laureate Gala and is thrilled to be returning, continuing her journey as a dynamic young artist with a bright future in both classical and theatrical performance.

< Back Previous Annarose Atamian Next Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall November 24, 2024 WATCH VIDEO Annarose Atamian is a freelance dancer and choreographer based in the UK. She began her dance training in the United States before earning a Bachelor's in Dance at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds. In the past year, she toured the UK, Switzerland, and Italy with VERVE, the postgraduate company of NSCD, performing works by Matteo Marfoglia, Joy Alpuerto Ritter, and LA’HORDE. Annarose continues to create and perform across America and Europe, bringing energy and innovation to every stage.

< Back Previous Mijo Chang Next Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall April 28, 2026 WATCH VIDEO Mijo Chang, from New York, NY, is 12 years old and currently studies piano with Donna Weng Friedman at the Mannes School of Music Precollege Division. She began playing piano at age six and was accepted to Mannes Prep at age seven, where she is now part of the Clara Mannes Scholars program. In 2026, she reached the final stage of the Mannes Prep Senior Concerto Competition. She also achieved the following: Royal Resonance International Music Competition (2026, Gold), Euro Elite International Music Competition (2026, Finalist), American Protégé International Concerto Competition (2023, 2nd Place).

< Back Melanie Ragge Oboe Learn More Videos About Melanie Ragge has performed nationally and internationally as a recitalist, chamber musician and orchestral player. She’s played in venues as far flung as Vancouver Island, Malta, and Northern Sweden as well as UK venues such as St John’s Smith Square, the Royal Opera House and Wigmore Hall. A founding member of the New London Chamber Ensemble, she has released several CDs, including Nielsen’s Wind & Piano Chamber Music. ‘…Performances and sound quality are outstanding in every regard’ International Record Review. Originally a medical student at King’s College Cambridge, Melanie ultimately graduated with a Master of Philosophy degree in Musicology. She was subsequently awarded a Leverhulme Fellowship at the Royal College of Music where she studied oboe with Michael Winfield, contemporary oboe with Edwin Roxburgh and piano with Phyllis Sellick. Melanie has since collaborated with numerous artists including the Dante, Schidlof and Emperor string quartets, pianists Ann Martin-Davis, Michael Dussek and Angela Hewitt, and baritone Gerald Finlay. Over the last few years, her performances have included recitals with Angela Hewitt and the New London Chamber Ensemble at Wigmore Hall, the premiere of the ensemble’s newly commissioned Nonet by Martin Butler with the Dante Quartet at the Cheltenham Festival, touring and recording Mahler’s 10th Symphony at Philharmonie Hall in Berlin with the International Mahler Orchestra, and recitals at the Royal Opera House with the Ellipsis Ensemble. Her most recent recording was a disc Martin Butler’s chamber music with the New London Chamber Ensemble and Navarra Quartet for NMC. She regularly coaches and gives masterclasses; she has been a guest tutor for numerous projects, including Chamber Music International, the Aberystwyth Music Festival, Hamburg Hochschule für Musik und Theater and the Penderecki Musik Akademie, and was for many years Associate Director and woodwind tutor for the National Youth Chamber Orchestra. As well as her work at the Royal Academy, she teaches at the Purcell School of Music, and coaches for Cambridge University. Her scientific interest continues in the form of ongoing research into the use of Electromyography to help to reduce strain injuries in musical training. In 2018, the New London Chamber Ensemble recorded Philip Cashian’s dectet Settala’s Machine in the Royal Academy of Music’s Angela Burgess Recital Hall, with Moriarty Winds, recent graduates, and Leverhulme Chamber Music Fellows at the Academy. With support from the Royal Academy of Music’s Research Department, Melanie Ragge commissioned film-maker David Lefeber to make a short film of the recording project, exploring the educational value of side-by-side projects in preparing young musicians for the profession. You can watch a film about Mel’s work developing her online teaching – From No Tech To High Tech – here: https://vimeo.com/352064378/78d0f118b5 You can view another short film of Melanie’s work with oboe students from the Royal Academy of Music, Creativity in a Crisis; lockdown miniatures by oboists at the Academy here: https://vimeo.com/459367076 You can see the film Settala’s Machine by Philip Cashian here: https://vimeo.com/352064378/78d0f118b5 or listen to the audio file here: https://soundcloud.com/nlce-1/philip-cashian-settalas-machine-for-wind-dectet-new-london-chamber-ensemble-and-moriarty-winds Previous Next

< Back Previous Alan Ma Next Pianist Gala at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall April 30, 2025 WATCH VIDEO Alan is a dedicated 13-year-old pianist with a deep appreciation for music and artistic expression. He began studying piano at the age of seven and has since built a strong foundation in both classical and contemporary repertoire. Through consistent practice and a love for performance, Alan continues to refine his technique and broaden his musical understanding. Beyond his musical pursuits, Alan maintains an excellent academic record and enjoys exploring literature, technology, and time with family and friends. He aspires to continue his musical journey by composing original works and pursuing a professional career in performance.