Titilayo Ayangade
Cello
Titilayo Ayangade, cellist, has spent more than two decades behind the instrument, enjoying performances in orchestras and chamber ensembles as well commissioning new music. Holding degrees in performance from University of Cincinnati-CCM and University of Texas at Austin, she has also worked closely with members of the Artemis Quartet at Queen Elisabeth Chapel in Belgium. Titilayo currently resides close to Washington, D.C. and is pursuing a D.M.A. at the University of Maryland as part of the fellowship ensemble in residence, Thalea String Quartet.
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As a member of the Thalea String Quartet, Titilayo was a top prize winner at both the Fischoff and Chamber Music Yellow Spring competitions and has been the cellist of the quartet since 2017. TSQ was the 2019-2020 Ernst Stiefel Quartet in Residence at the Caramoor Center for the Arts. Titilayo has collaborated with many different artists including Isabel Charisius, Lawrence Power, Robert DeMaine, James Austin Smith and Sibbi Bernhardson. She has also received mentorship from members of The Left Bank Quartet, Miro Quartet, Emerson Quartet, Artemis Quartet and Ariel Quartet. Her principal cello teachers over the years were Ilya Finkelshteyn, Joshua Gindele, and Eric Kutz. In recent years Titilayo has had the privilege of touring China, Brazil, Canada, and many cities in North America.
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Inspired by and dedicated to the work of musicians of color, Titilayo is constantly seeking new collaborations and ways to spotlight the voices in music that often go unheard. Away from the cello Titilayo (Titi for short), spends her time searching for vintage furniture, and enjoys her work as a photographer www.titilayoandco.com.
Philip Baldwin
Violin
Philip Baldwin is Professor of Violin and Orchestras at Whitworth University. He also serves as the Conductor and Artistic Director of Spokane Youth Symphony, and the concertmaster and assistant conductor of the Coeur d’Alene Symphony. He earned a DMA in violin performance at The Ohio State University under Michael Davis. He is the president of the Washington chapter of ASTA and has presented at eight of its national conventions and at the International Short Story Conferences in Ireland and Portugal. He is an avid runner and chamber musician.
Robyn Draper
Art
Robyn Draper is a visual artist who specializes in ceramics and graphic design. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Brigham Young University and has been a studio artist for fifteen years. She has a passion for creativity and fostering that in her students. She has taught art classes for children and adults, and loves seeing her students bring their ideas to life! Robyn is a multi-passionate artist and is especially drawn to pottery, watercolor painting, printmaking, bookbinding, and digital art.
Timothy Durbin
Violin
Dr. Timothy (Terry) Durbin’s unique brand of teaching excellence makes him one of the most sought-after clinicians/conductors throughout the world. With infectious enthusiasm and inspired musicianship, he brings smiles and laughter to students throughout the United States and around the world. His dynamic teaching career includes over 1000 workshops and institutes! His performance and teaching career stretches across the United States and Canada into Bermuda, Germany, Italy, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia,Thailand and Singapore, and he has recorded two CDs, including the complete chamber music of Marcel Dupre for the Naxos label. He has been appointed principal conductor of the Cave Run Symphony Orchestra beginning with the 2016 season. He has directed the South Dakota and Montana All State Orchestras. He is the holder of the American Suzuki Institute Suzuki Chair Award for 2013. Terry Durbin is also an accomplished composer and notable arranger.
Dr. Durbin holds a DMA in orchestral conducting from Claremont Graduate University in Los Angeles, California, a Masters in violin performance from the University of Illinois, and an undergraduate degree in violin performance from the University of Alabama. He has held university positions at Transylvania University, Morehead State University, Azusa Pacific University, the University of Louisville and the University of Oregon. He is a registered teacher trainer with the Suzuki Association of the Americas.
Terry maintains a private studio in Louisville, Kentucky. He has three children, two grandchildren and one great granddaughter.
He believes in the magic of music’s power to enrich our lives.
Levi Fiso
Ukulele
Levi Fiso was born in Tonga and then brought to the United States at the age of two, when he was adopted into a Samoan family in American Fork, Utah. A love for the ukulele came naturally to him when he was taught to play by his grandfather, Avefua Fiso, and has enjoyed playing it since. Levi now lives in St. George with his family, and loves using this skill to spend time playing and singing with his wife, Malory. He has begun sharing his passion for the ukulele, as he teaches his own daughter to play.
Ariel Haubner
Cello; Yoga
Ariel began her cello studies with Dr. Carey Cheney. She has had the privilege of working with many renowned teachers and cellists throughout her musical career, including Dr. Tanya Carey, Pamela Devenport, Richard Aaron, Bernard Greenhouse, and Kurt Baldwin to name a few. She studied music at the University of Utah with the inimitable Anne Francis Bayless, of the Fry Street Quarte, and went on to study cello performance and pedagogy with Dr. Melissa Kraut at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Ariel is incredibly passionate about connecting and creating through music. She has a thriving studio in Salt Lake City, and is always an active student herself. Ms. Haubner strives to meet each student where they are in order to help them grow and develop as musicians, artists and individuals. In her spare time you’ll find her curled up with a book, practicing yoga, or spending time with her pup Stella.
Edwin Kaplan
Viola/Violin
Violist of the award-winning Tesla Quartet and the newly formed Duo Kayo, Edwin Kaplan continues to forge a versatile identity as a recitalist, chamber musician, and educator. He has performed on concert series across North America, Europe, and Asia, including Wigmore Hall, Lincoln Center, and Tanglewood Music Center.
Pushing his boundaries beyond the traditional repertoire, Edwin is equally at home in new music, having participated in numerous premieres including Andy Akiho's LIgNEouS and Zosha Di Castri’s String Quartet No. 1. One of his most treasured projects is the Tesla Quartet’s annual call for scores, for which he combs through hundreds of recently composed string quartets submitted by composers from all over the world.
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Edwin is proud to serve his community as an advocate for music education. Through his work with the Tesla Quartet, he performs outreach at community primary schools and high schools and has given masterclasses at universities across North America. He spent a year teaching at Mt. Allison University in Canada, collaborating with music faculty, coaching chamber music, and workshopping new works by composition students. Edwin believes strongly in music education at all levels and has participated in adult amateur chamber music workshops at Kneisel Hall in Blue Hill, Maine, where he has brought in-depth coaching and musical training to adults for whom music is a passion and hobby.
Edwin Kaplan is a Doctor of Musical Arts and received a Master of Music degree and an Artist Diploma from the Yale University School of Music. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Mira Larson
Dalcroze
Originally from Chicago, Mira Larson started training in cello and dance at an early age. She continued her cello studies at Northwestern University (BM) and the New England Conservatory (MM). Upon discovering Dalcroze Eurhythmics, Mira immediately enrolled at the Dalcroze School of the Rockies, and has attended conventions held by the Dalcroze Society of America (Los Angeles) and the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze (Genève, Switzerland). She holds a Dalcroze Professional Certificate and is currently completing her Dalcroze License. Mira lives in Salt Lake City, where she teaches at La Maison des Enfants, the Gifted Music School and her own Rythmique Music School.
Melissa Leavitt
Choir/Singing
Melissa Leavitt was born in Salt Lake City and grew up in Cedar City, Utah in a family where free time was often spent in music and arts. A “dabbler” in the arts since childhood, Melissa finds her true love is in teaching children about their artistic world and helping them find their creative voice. She graduated from the University of Utah and has spent over 30 years teaching children to sing in a choir setting. She taught music within Salt Lake City schools for over 20 years and was involved with the “Great Artists” and “Great Composers” programs. She was also part of a group of moms who helped the 6th Graders perform a Shakespeare Play every year. While in Salt Lake she sang with the group Music Works which performed all over the Salt Lake Valley. On moving to Cedar City Melissa began teaching music at Cedar South Elementary School and founded the South Elementary Singers. This group also put on a play annually, this time a musical! She is the founder and director of the Children’s Choir of Southern Utah, now known as Southern Utah Youth Choir. This is a group of children’s community choirs which serves youth ages 5-18. Melissa worked with the annual ArtsFusion music camp at Southern Utah University and as education director for the Orchestra of Southern Utah. In addition to music, Melissa has been involved with children's theater for over 17 years and worked as an artist in residence in Salt Lake School District schools. She started the Mini Musicians program for preschoolers here in Cedar City which has blossomed into the Mini Artists program with dance, music and visual arts for preschool aged children. She has sung with In Jubilo women's choral and served as their assistant director for several years. Melissa sings with the Village Voices chamber choir and is founder of Late Bloomers for singers over 50! She has also found a new passion and challenge in arranging choral music.
Peter Romney
Cello
Peter Romney started cello at the age of five, and grew up studying under, among others, Carol Tarr, Richard Hoyt, Richard Aaron, Rodney Farrar, Tanya Carey, and Kory Katseanes, former assistant conductor for the Utah Symphony. He has toured throughout the western US and Europe with classical ensembles as well as improvisational, jazz, and folk artists, and is featured on the albums of Theta Naught, Paul Jacobsen, and others. Currently, Peter maintains his private studio, Bass Clef Talent Education, in St George. He is assistant principal cellist for the Southwest Symphony Orchestra, and continues to hone his skills, both as a cellist and as a Suzuki teacher, with Dr. AliceAnn O’Neill.