Widely recognized as one of the most talented violinists of his generation, Mr. GAO Can enjoys an international career during which he has appeared with major orchestras and at prestigious venues and festivals throughout the world.

The orchestras he has collaborated with include the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Rostock Philharmonic Orchestra, Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Teatro di San Carlo Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra, China National Symphony Orchestra, China Central Oprea Symphony Orchestra, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Beijing Symphony Orchestra among others.

He has also performed at notable music festivals such as the Verbier Festival, Beethoven Festival in Bonn, the Salzburg Festival, Attersee Festival, Korea Tongyeong International Festival, and the Festival Internacional de Jazz de Getxo. He has performed at such prestigious venues as Berliner Philharmonie, Hamberg Concert Hall, Salzburger Festspiele, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Hong Kong Cultural Center, and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. The musicians he performed with include Mischa Maisky, Yuri Bashmet, Charles Dutoit, just to name a few.

In recent years Mr. GAO has dedicated a great deal of his time and effort to mentoring thIn recent years Mr. GAO has dedicated a great deal of his time and effort to mentoring the next generation of violinists through teaching, lecturing and giving masterclasses. He was the youngest-ever Associate Professor at Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music; from 2007 to 2012, he was also the youngest professor granted foreign-guest teaching status on Cincinnati University’s music faculty. He has held lectures, seminars and workshops at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, the University of Northern Colorado, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shanghai Orchestra Academy, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, the University of Macau, The Xinghai Conservatory of Music Guangzhou, the University of Taipei and so on. At Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts alone, he has given more than 60 events including concerts, seminars and masterclasses.

Mr. GAO also serves as the Music Director of the Poly WeDo Music Education Programme established by the Poly Cultural Group, nurturing violinists of the next generation. Mr. GAO’s achievement in violin performance and pedagogy has been recognized by numerous institutions. He was appointed the ambassador of the Verbier Festival Orchestra and has become the only official ambassador of Chinese nationality. In 2015 he was elected the new committee member of the Violin Society of the Chinese Musicians Association. As one of the very symbols of Chinese young musicians, he was included in the “Impression China” series of the China Post Office, which published a set of personal stamp and postcards entitled “Chinese Cultural Artists”.

In March 2015, Mr. GAO was invited to the closing ceremony at the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) to perform in front of 17 national leaders and thousands of political and business leaders from all over the world. He is also the committee member of the Violin Society of the Chinese Musicians Association. The China Recording Arts Association (CRA) has released a number of albums for him.

The latest ones released in 2017 include Beethoven’s and Brahms’s Violin Concertos and the Beethoven Sonata cycle. Mr. Gao’s teachers include the late Prof. LIN Yaoji, Prof. Kurt Sassmannshaus and Prof. Zakhar Bron. He plays the 1617 ‘Lobkowicz’ Amati sponsored by the Bein & Fushi-Stradivary Society.

Violinist Tessa Lark is one of the most captivating artistic voices of our time, consistently praised by critics and audiences for her astounding range of sounds, technical agility, and musical elegance. Increasingly in demand in the classical realm, in 2020 she was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category. She is also a highly acclaimed fiddler in the tradition of her native Kentucky, delighting audiences with programming that includes Appalachian and bluegrass music and inspiring composers to write for her.

Following a busy summer that saw her perform with the Sarasota Festival, Seattle Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Music Society SummerFest, Classical Tahoe, Tippet Rise, and Moab Music Festival, among others, highlights of Lark’s 2024-25 season include returns to the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London, and the Rochester Philharmonic, and a debut with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.   In recital she will debut with San Francisco Symphony, University of California at Santa Barbara and the Artist Series of Sarasota. She reprises Michael Torke’s violin concerto, Sky – written for her, and the 2020 recording of which earned her a Grammy nomination – with the Boulder and Colorado Springs Philharmonic Orchestras, as well as the West Michigan, Williamsburg, Shreveport, and Tallahassee Symphony Orchestras. As a chamber musician, she will tour with her string trio project with composer-bassist Edgar Meyer and cellist Joshua Roman through the Fall to venues including Meany Hall, Seattle, Cal Performances Berkeley, WPAS in Washington D.C., and the Boston Celebrity Series.

The violinist has performed with orchestras, recital venues and festivals around the world. She has appeared with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra; the Louisville Orchestra; the Stuttgart Philharmonic and the Indianapolis, Knoxville and Seattle Symphonies; as well as being presented by Carnegie Hall, New York’s Lincoln Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Cal Performances, San Francisco Performances, the Seattle Chamber Music Society, Australia’s Musica Viva Festival, and the Marlboro, Mostly Mozart, and Bridgehampton summer festivals.

Lark’s most recent album, The Stradgrass Sessions, released in spring 2023, features an all-star roster of collaborators and composers including Meyer, pianist Jon Batiste, mandolinist Sierra Hull and fiddler Michael Cleveland. Album selections mix original compositions by Lark and her collaborators with a sonata by Eugène Ysaÿe, a selection of Bartók’s violin duets arranged for violin and mandolin and the world premiere recording of John Corigliano’s STOMP.

Lark’s debut commercial recording was the Grammy-nominated SKY, a bluegrass-inspired violin concerto written for her by Michael Torke and performed with the Albany Symphony Orchestra. Besides The Stradgrass Sessions, her discography also includes Fantasy on First Hand Records: fantasias by Schubert, Telemann and Fritz Kreisler; Ravel’s Tzigane; and Lark’s own composition Appalachian Fantasy. Invention, marking the debut album for the violin-bass duo made up of Lark and bassist Michael Thurber, comprises arrangements of Two-Part Inventions by J. S. Bach along with original compositions by both duo partners. Finally, a live performance recording of Astor Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires was released in 2021 by the Buffalo Philharmonic in honour of Piazzolla’s centenary.

Lark is a recipient of the Hunt Family Award, one of Lincoln Center’s prestigious Emerging Artist Awards, as well as a 2018 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and a 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant. She was Silver Medalist in the 9th Quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and winner of the 2012 Naumburg International Violin Competition

In addition to her performance schedule, Lark is Artistic Director of Musical Masterworks, a chamber music presenter in Old Lyme, Connecticut. She champions young aspiring artists and supports the next generation of musicians through her work as Co-host/Creative of NPR’s From the Top, the premier radio showcase for the nation’s most talented young musicians. She also serves as Mentor and board member of the Irving M. Klein International Strings Competition.

Lark is a graduate of New England Conservatory and completed her Artist Diploma at The Juilliard School, where she studied with Sylvia Rosenberg, Ida Kavafian, and Daniel Phillips. Her primary mentors include Cathy McGlasson, Kurt Sassmannshaus, Miriam Fried, and Lucy Chapman. She plays a ca. 1600 G.P. Maggini violin on loan from an anonymous donor through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

American pianist Clayton Stephenson’s love for music is immediately apparent in his joyous charisma onstage, expressive power, and natural ease at the instrument. Hailed for “extraordinary narrative and poetic gifts” and interpretations that are “fresh, incisive and characterfully alive” (Gramophone), he is committed to making an impact on the world through his music-making.

Growing up in New York City, Clayton started piano lessons at age 7 and was accepted into the Juilliard Outreach Music Advancement Program for underprivileged children the next year, where he attended numerous student recitals and fell in love with music. At the age of 10 he advanced to Juilliard’s elite Pre-College program with the help of his teacher, Beth Nam. At Juilliard he studied with Matti Raekallio, Hung-Kuang Chen and Ernest Barretta. Clayton practiced on a synthesizer at home until he found an old upright piano on the street that an elementary school had thrown away; that would become his practice piano for the next six years, until the Lang Lang Foundation donated a new piano to him when he was 17.

He credits the generous support of community programs with providing him musical inspiration and resources along the way. As he describes it, the “3rd Street Music School jump-started my music education; the Young People’s Choir taught me phrasing and voicing; the Juilliard Outreach Music Advancement Program introduced me to formal and rigorous piano training, which enabled me to get into Juilliard Pre-College; the Morningside Music Bridge validated my talent and elevated my self-confidence; the Boy’s Club of New York exposed me to jazz; and the Lang Lang Foundation brought me to stages worldwide and transformed me from a piano student to a young artist.”

Recent and upcoming highlights include concertos with the Houston, North Carolina, and Cincinnati Symphonies; festival appearances at Grand Teton, Grant Park, and Tippet Rise; recitals at Washington Performing Arts at the Kennedy Center, Foundation Louis Vuitton, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall; gala performances with the New York and Las Vegas Philharmonics; and collaborations with violinists Nikki and Timothy Chooi. He also joins the Hartford Symphony Orchestra as 2024–2025 Artist-in-Residence.

Clayton graduated from the Harvard-New England Conservatory (NEC) dual degree program in spring 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in economics at Harvard and a master’s degree in piano performance at NEC under Wha Kyung Byun. In addition to being the first Black finalist at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2022, he received an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2024,won the inaugural Nina Simone Piano Competition in 2023, and is a 2025 Sphinx Medal of Excellence honoree.

Baritone Adam Richardson is a celebrated artist known for his captivating performances across opera, concert, and theatre stages. Praised by Opera News for his “gorgeous textured baritone,” Richardson’s career has been marked by a series of impressive achievements and notable debuts.
In the upcoming 2023-2024 season, Richardson is set to make his debut with the Metropolitan Opera in X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X in the role of ‘Friend,’ Virginia Opera in Sanctuary Road, and Music Theatre Wichita. Additionally, he will return to Opera in the Heights as Schaunard in La Boheme.
The previous season, 2022-2023, showcased Richardson as he portrayed Yoshio in Hanjo with Catapult Opera, a role he reprised at Teatro Sociale di Trento, Italy. A significant highlight was his house debut with Opera Omaha, where he commanded the title role of Malcolm X in X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X. He was seen in the world premiere of Factotum at Lyric Opera of Chicago and his return to the role of John Mack at Pittsburgh Opera in We Shall Not Be Moved, a work he originated and premiered in 2017. Richardson’s versatility extended to the realm of film, marking his first appearance in the famed “Blue’s Clue’s” franchise with Blue’s Clue’s Big City Adventure.

We don’t get to repeat even one minute of our time here, but what if you could experience all of the youthful energy and sonic celebration that was 1980s New Wave & Radio Pop? Every sound. Every nuance. Every feeling. That’s Electric Avenue.

“If you close your eyes it’s 1985. This band is unbelievable.” Christine Murphy, Manchester, CT

What started out as a one-off party gig has turned into just over a decade-long run, totaling more than 1100 concerts across the US and abroad. An Electric Avenue show is a high energy space that reminds people of a time when they came home from school, put a record on, and listened with open ears and an open heart; conjuring first dates, first cars, prom nights, weekend movies, meeting friends at the mall, while finding a sense of fashion and an identity all their own.

Delving into their personal stash of vintage synthesizers and rare signal processors, an Electric Avenue show is a true labor of love. They have sailed the high seas with The Walking Dead Cast, Kid Rock, The Impractical Jokers, Joey Fatone, and Pitbull. In 2019, EA was hand-picked and flown to Asbury Park, NJ to provide the soundtrack for the red-carpet launch of the Bruce Springsteen, Gurinder Chadha (Bend it Like Beckham), New Line Entertainment 80’s-centric film, Blinded By The Light. They have had the privilege of being direct support for 80’s legend Pat Benatar, and have been joined on stage by, among others, members of Toto, Player, Talk Talk, and Little River Band. ®

As artists, the musicians in Electric Avenue have had a hand in the sale of over 15 million albums worldwide. They choose to perform these songs because they love them as much as you do. If namedropping is your thing, you may have seen or heard these guys with the likes of Lionel Richie, Paul Simon, Idina Menzel, Daniel Lanois (producer for U2, Peter Gabriel), Brian Blade, Emmy Lou Harris, B-52s, Little River Band, Michael Malarkey (Vampire Diaries), Zac Brown Band, Player, RENT (our singer played Roger Davis from 2001-2004), Paula Cole, Tracy Chapman, Bobby Kimball (Toto) Kristian Bush (Sugarland), Shanice, Edwin McCain, Robbie Dupree, Rita Wilson, Lindsay Ell, Boston, Collective Soul, Mother’s Finest, Sister Hazel, Yanni, Boyz II Men, and more.

Every sound. Every nuance. Every time.

Clay Duke – Keys, Vocals

Shannon Pengelly – Guitar, Vocals

Chris Pou – Sound

Kevin Spencer – Lead Vocals, Guitar

Tom Young – Bass, Vocals

Will Groth – Drums

Conductor, Music Director and Pianist Evan Roider maintains an active schedule performing across the United States and abroad.  Equally at home on the symphonic stage and in the pit, he is quickly becoming known as a conductor of great versatility. Currently, he serves as Music Director/Conductor for the National Tour of Wicked, having toured with Les Misérables and Cats. The 2022-2023 season included appearances with Pacific Symphony and The Manhattan Transfer, Tucson Symphony and Pink Martini, and a return engagement with the Greensboro Symphony and Michael Feinstein, celebrating the Judy Garland Centennial. He recently assisted on Pops concerts with the Dallas Symphony, and in 2023-2024, assists on programs with the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center and Wolf Trap.  This season, he returns to Tucson Symphony, makes his debut with Sarasota Orchestra, Charlotte Symphony, and Toledo Symphony, and continues to conduct Wicked across North America.

As a Music Director, Evan has led productions of Mack and Mabel, A Chorus Line, Company, Into the Woods, The Music Man, Avenue Q, Spring Awakening, and The Wizard of Oz, among others. He was the Assistant Conductor for Candide at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and in 2019, was awarded the Best Music Director award from Broadway World CT for his work on Evita (ACT of Connecticut).  Active in the development of new works, Evan spent two summers at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center as part of the National Musical Theater Conference as well as the Cabaret & Performance Conference.  In 2014, he served as music director and pianist for Broadway in Ravello (Italy), a production that was broadcast on Italian National Television, and in 2013, he premiered new arrangements of Leonard Bernstein works at Grand Performances Los Angeles.  At Barrington Stage, he was the Associate Music Director for the critically acclaimed production of The Pirates of Penzance, a production the New York Times called, “exhilarating”.

As a pianist, Evan is a strong advocate of new music, having worked with composers Jake Heggie, William Bolcom, Gwyneth Walker, and Ben Moore, among others.  In 2014, he made his debut in China with Cardiff Singer of the World Yang Guang and in 2015, he spearheaded a residency featuring Jake Heggie and Sister Helen Prejean (Dead Man Walking).  He has performed at SongFest, Liederfest, the Indiana University Summer Music Festival, the Amalfi Coast Music Festival, and the New Orleans International Piano Competition Institute, having coached with Graham Johnson, Martin Katz, William Bolcom, Nelita True, John Perry, Margo Garrett, and Aldo Ciccolini, among others.

Evan is a graduate of the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, where he earned a Masters in Orchestral Conducting.  He received the Bachelor of Music from the Hartt School under the instruction of Anne Koscielny and David Westfall.

“Of all that abides here, it’s the consistency of the music direction that impresses the most.”      – Chicago Tribune

“Under the musical direction of Conductor Evan Roider, the orchestration is wonderful and well-balanced.” – MD Theatre Guide

“I am so proud when young musicians initiate a project that addresses the arts, politics and social justice. Evan is doing that.” – Jake Heggie

Matt Mauser is a songwriter, solo artist, pop/rock bandleader, and Sinatra-style crooner, having spent more than two decades onstage and in the writing room. A lifelong resident of Southern California, he was an all-American swimmer during his younger years before shifting his focus to music.

During a local show with his Orange County-based party band, the Tijuana Dogs, he met fellow athlete, Christina. The two married and began raising a family, with Matt pulling triple duty as full-time family man, daytime Spanish teacher, and nighttime musician. He even combined his love of music and academics into a unique educational project, Rockin’ the Class, which taught children the fundamentals of Spanish through a selection of songs Matt had written, performed, and recorded. 

These days, music isn’t just a job; it’s also a source of therapy for Matt, who lost his wife in the January 2020 helicopter crash that also killed NBA great Kobe Bryant and seven others. Kobe hired Matt to create the music for an educational podcast called “The Punies.” Kobe and Christina also worked together, coaching a girls’ basketball team at the Mamba Sports Academy. Their loss was tragic to an entire world of basketball fans, and it was unspeakably tough for Matt. 

With songs like “Lost,” Matt Mauser is once again using his music to teach lessons and inspire joy. Written during the aftermath of Christina’s passing, the song reaches out to those who’ve experienced similar losses in their own lives. Those who grieve don’t have to grieve alone. And Matt Mauser, during the most challenging season of his life, hasn’t lost his ability to bring people together through his melodies, messages, and music.

Darren Lorenzo is a veteran performer, hailing straight from Atlanta, Georgia. Lorenzo has appeared in numerous productions both nationally and internationally. He received his B.A. in Mass Communications at Clark Atlanta University and further trained with Broadway Theatre Project at the University of South Florida, University of Tampa and with Theatre Emory of Emory University. He has wowed audiences with roles on Cruise Ships, headlining in Vegas, multiple regional, Off Broadway, Broadway, National, and International Touring productions of After Midnight, Vegas the Show, Legally Blonde, Saturday Night Fever, Madagascar, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, No Strings, Fosse, Hair, Tony and Tina’s Wedding, Once on This Island, What The World Needs Now, and several Gospel and Motown Tribute tours throughout Europe. In addition to acting and singing, he also works as a writer, producer, teacher, director and performs solo concerts with bands all over the US.

Learn more about Chester here: A MOTOWN CELEBRATION with Chester Gregory (youtube.com)

Chester Gregory is an award-winning singer and actor. He was last seen starring in Motown The Musical as the iconic Berry Gordy.  Broadway credits include Motown the Musical, Hairspray, Tarzan, Cry-Baby and Sister Act. Other credits include August Wilson’s Fences and Two Trains Running. He has toured nationally with Dreamgirls, Sister Act, as well as his one-man show The Eve of Jackie Wilson. Chester has received many awards, including the Jeff Award and a NAACP Theatre Award, and has been presented the key to the city of his hometown of Gary, Indiana and in East Chicago. He has also been chosen as an Honorary State Representative of Indiana and has received an Honorary Doctorate from his alma mater Columbia College Chicago. He is currently producing several projects and recordings. Add him on social media @ChesterGregory and chestergregory.com

Conductor Herb Smith is widely known in both the classical and jazz worlds as an exciting performer who inspires musicians and audiences wherever he goes.  Whether he is performing, conducting, teaching or composing, Herb’s expression of music draws from his multifaceted and dynamic musical experiences from around the world.

Voted “Best Instrumentalist” of Rochester 2022 by City Magazine, Herb currently holds the third trumpet position in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the principal trumpet position in the Gateways Festival Orchestra which made their Carnegie Hall debut in April 2022. Herb also serves as principal trumpet in the Gateways Brass Collective, a nationally touring professional brass quintet, sponsored by Conn-Selmer. Being a highly sought after lead trumpeter has afforded Herb the opportunity to play with such notable musicians as Jeff Beck, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, the O’Jays, Johnny Mathis, and Doc Severinsen, to name but a few. He has been a frequent guest soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Rochester Philharmonic.

Herb’s Freedom Trio (composed of trumpet played through electronics, bass and drums) can be seen in performances around the country. This funky, eclectic group, a frequent guest at the Rochester International Jazz Festival, offers its “idiosyncratic yet charming melodies” (City Magazine) in concerts and festivals around the world.

As a composer, Herb has been commissioned by brass ensembles, high school choirs, jazz ensembles and trumpet ensembles in addition to writing for his jazz trio and the Gateways Brass Collective. Herb’s “The Twelve Tones of Christmas,” composed for trumpet, piano and voice, premiered in Carnegie Hall in 2008. Tony Award winning choreographer Garth Fagan commissioned Herb to write a ballet for his Children’s Ensemble. The resulting forty minute, six part work ranged across many styles, including reggae, classical, jazz and funk.

Herb is a regular guest conductor with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He frequently conducts the Symphoria orchestra based in Syracuse, NY and currently directs the Eastman Youth Jazz Ensemble. He also guest conducts for All-State and All-County Bands, Orchestras and Jazz Ensembles all across New York State. Herb recently conducted and curated a Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Brass performance of Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” at a Black Lives Matter rally and a concert honoring Harriet Tubman. This performance united the City of Rochester, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and neighborhood churches in honor of Tubman’s bicentennial celebration.

A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Herb is a trumpet instructor at the Eastman Community Music School. He also leads masterclasses and offers lectures on trumpet technique, endurance and sound production. From universities to elementary schools, Herb is frequently invited to serve as teacher, teaching artist and clinician. He co-founded Herb’s City Trumpets, a program that mentors and teaches trumpet to Black students aged 8 to 17, in partnership with the Rochester City School District.