William’s passion for music was honed at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, UK. Certified with a DipABRSM in Piano Performance and ABRSM Grade 8 Music Theory, he possesses expertise in both performance and teaching. He has served as a private piano instructor and as a teacher at the Yamaha Music School, emphasizing a holistic musical pedagogy that encompasses performance, music theory, and aural training. Currently at Bard College, he is honored to have the opportunity to champion music education accessibility through the Musical Mentorship Initiative, mentoring and inspiring students at every stage of their musical journey.
Elizabeth Chernyak is a Canadian violinist and violist recently graduated from the Bard College Conservatory of Music. She is a student of Luosha Fang and Melissa Reardon and has previously studied with Daniel Phillips and Marka Gustavsson. Elizabeth has attended Eastern Music Festival, where she was taught by Uli Speth, Julian Schwartz, and Avi Nagin; Round Top Festival Institute, where she studied with Christiano Rodrigues, Joan Kwon, Elizabeth Adkins, and Chen Zhao, among others; Encore Chamber Music Institute, where she studied with Jinjoo Cho, Sibbi Bernhardsson, Paul Kantor, and members of the Verona Quartet; Borromeo Music Festival, where she was taught by Lorenz Gamma and Lina Bahn; and Music Mountain Summer Festival, studying with the Arianna String Quartet.
My name is Oliver, I’m a senior at Bard and I play trumpet and piano. I’m passionate about guiding young musicians to feel confident about their talents and abilities, and I believe that every child should have the opportunity to make music.
My name is Mikhal/Joy Terentiev. I am a 5th year senior at Bard College majoring in Viola Performance and Psychology. I have been playing viola for 13 years while studying with teachers in Israel and the US. I incorporate mindfulness and well-being strategies into teaching, and I am excited to meet you where you are at! 🙂
Isabel Chin Garita is currently pursuing a dual degree in psychology and violin performance at Bard College and Conservatory. During the summer, she has attended the Bowdoin International Music Festival and the Aspen Music Festival and School. She enjoys playing chamber music with her peers and has performed with her brother on From the Top. She is also passionate about sharing music with her community and has teaching experience in her surrounding area. She is currently a mentor for young music students through the Musical Mentorship Initiative.
Abby Wolf ‘27 is a third-year student at Bard Conservatory studying cello performance with Raman Ramakrishnan. She loves exploring different genres of music and has performed with Bard’s Contemporary Jazz Composers, Jazz Standards, and US-China ensembles. She also loves theater and has spent the last two summers playing in the pit for the College Light Opera Company. She has attended the Center Stage Strings (2019-2022) and HeifetzPEG (2017-2019) summer music festivals. Her previous teachers include Peter Wiley, Horacio Contreras, Amy Barston, Udi-Bar David, and Gloria dePasquale. She is thrilled to be a part of Bard’s MMI program and loves sharing her passion for music!
Natalia Dziubelski is a Polish-American french horn player based in the Hudson Valley. She is a recent graduate of the Bard College and Conservatory where she studied with Metropolitan opera musicians, Barbara Jostlein and Hugo Valverde. Through Bard’s dual degree program, she received a degree in music performance as well as physics, in which she has completed her thesis Theoretical Foundations of Quantum Computing and the Implementation of the Quantum Fourier Transform as well as has been named Bard College’s Alexander Borodin scholar. Additionally, Natalia has traveled to Haikou in Hainan Province, China, with composer and conductor Tan Dun and the Bard Philharmonic Orchestra to open the Haikou Bay Performing Arts Center.
Yijie Yin, studied Zhongruan with Professor Xu Yang of the Central Conservatory of Music. She is now a fifth year student in the US-China Music Institute at Bard Conservatory, studying music performance and art history in the double degree program at Bard College.
Yixin (ee-sheen) Wang is currently attending Bard Conservatory of Music, pursing a dual degree in guzheng performance and mathematics. She started learning guzheng, a traditional Chinese plucked string instrument since the age of 3, and has been teaching it in the past 9 years. She dedicate a huge amount of time educating and popularizing Chinese music in the west, attending cultural talks and events, and has performed in various venues.
Kexilin Ke, from Xiamen, Fujian Province, China, a young Konghou inheritor, studied guzheng with Prof. Wang Caizhen at an early age, and then studied Konghou with Prof. Cui Junzhi. In 2017, she was admitted to the folk music department of the Central Conservatory of Music, majoring in Konghou, and in 2023, she was admitted to the undergraduate folk music department of the Bard School of Music, majoring in Konghou.
Beitong Liu is an erhu player from Jilin, China. She graduated from the US-China Music Institute, where she studied erhu performance and global and international studies. In 2021, she was a soloist in “The Sound of Spring” Chinese New Year concert with The Orchestra Now (TŌN) and won the Bard Conservatory Concerto Competition. She made her debut at Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2023 with TŌN, conducted by maestro Jindong Cai. In 2024, Beitong won the Singapore Star International Arts and Culture Festival Erhu Competition First Prize. She is also a member of the Bard East-West Ensemble and Bright Moon Band, where she explores new sounds, including Chinese jazz and improvisation.
Hiu-Man Chan is in his second -year as a student of the Master of Arts in Chinese Music and Culture at Bard College, where he studies suona and guanzi with Chinese winds master Yazhi Guo. Originally from Hong Kong, he has also been a freelance musician of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and Macau Chinese Orchestra. Chan achieved a Silver Award in the Senior Professional Category of the 4th Singapore Nanyang International Music Competition for suona.
Xiaoyan Luo is a senior in the double-degree program at the Bard Conservatory, majoring in pipa performance and film production. She participates in various performances both on and off campus, including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and the Consulate General of China, where she has been well received for her expressive and delicate performing style. She was honored to be selected as a winner of the Bard Conservatory Concerto Competition in November of 2023.
Born in Philadelphia, PA, Eric started his musical journey at the age of seven when he started taking piano lessons. He first picked up the trumpet in sixth grade. Eric did his undergraduate at the University of Miami, where he studied with Craig Morris. Around this time, Eric began to become very interested in the worlds of chamber and contemporary music. Following his undergraduate, Eric pursued his Master´s in Music at Yale University under the tutelage of Kevin Cobb. He is currently attending Bard Conservatory for Advanced Performance Studies where he studies with Edward Carroll.
Drew Frankenberg is a 20 year old composer / performer from West Rutland, Vermont who is going into his second year in pursuing a Double Major in Composition at Bard Conservatory of music and Anthropology in Bard’s humanities department. Drew has had his music played by numerous professional ensembles, including The Da Capo Players, The Vermont Symphony Orchestra, The Montpilier Orchestra, and TURNmusic. He is currently studying composition under Joan Tower and Missy Mazzoli at Bard, and his past instructors include Matthew LaRocca and Erik Neilson. In addition to composition, Drew enjoys performing on clarinet, saxophone, piano, guitar, and the occasional percussion instrument across a number of genres including classical, jazz, folk and traditional American, English and Irish music.
João Melo is a first-generation undergraduate and percussionist currently studying at the Bard College Conservatory of Music in upstate New York. Originally from Salvador, Brazil, João was a member of the NEOJIBA project’s principal orchestra and percussion group. During his time with NEOJIBA, he performed in Italy, Switzerland, England, and France during various concert tours. On the tours, he shared the stage with renowned musicians including Martha Argerich, Ricardo Castro, and Colin Currie. Within the project, João also taught percussion lessons, ensembles, and music theory for low-income communities in Salvador.
A dedicated and passionate oboist, Tori Conner has been playing the oboe for 11 years. She is originally from Houston, Texas, where she played in the Houston Youth Symphony and received consistent Outstanding ratings from the Texas Music Educators Association. She has received a BM in Oboe Performance and a minor in Arts Administration at Louisiana State University and is currently studying at the Bard Conservatory pursuing an MM in Oboe Performance. At Bard, Tori plays in the Bard Conservatory Orchestra and has played in Louisiana State University’s Symphony Orchestra and won first place in the university’s auditions for Spring 2021
Monika Dziubelski is a recent graduate from Bard College and Conservatory, where she studied with Dr. Tara O’Connor. She has appeared with multiple orchestras, including the New York Youth Symphony Orchestra, with whom she made her Carnegie Hall debut, as well as won a Grammy for Best Orchestral Performance under conductor Michael Repper and with producer Judith Sherman.
Lilla is an international student from Hungary and she is currently pursuing a dual degree at Bard College, studying Biochemistry and attending the Conservatory for Clarinet. Her passion for both nature and music has been a defining part of her life, matched by her dedication to helping others. In 2022, she began studying under Csaba Klenyán, a Hungarian clarinetist and Liszt Prize akard és. A year later, in 2023, Lilla traveled to Kisumu, Kenya, where she volunteered with a local organization to teach music to children in underprivileged schools. This experience deepened her commitment to using her skills to uplift and inspire others. She graduated in a mathematics major class, and passed both a high-level chemistry and a high-level biology final exam from high school, but during this period she won at the same FEMUS competition for the last time.