Sandra Wright Shen October 30, 2010

Pianist Sandra Wright Shen received her BM and MM in piano performance from the Peabody Conservatory, under Ann Schein. She performed in Master Classes with Ruth Slencynska, Jerome Lowenthal, Andre Watts, and Rebecca Penneys and studied chamber music with Earl Carlyss, former member of Juilliard String Quartet. She studied Russian pianism with Zalina Gurevich, Oleg Barsov, and Lev Nauomov. She also collaborated in chamber music with Vesselin Parashkevov (concert master of the Vienna Philharmonic) and cellist Nina Kotova, and has worked with the Alban Berg Quartet, Jorg Demus, and Grant Johannessen.

Sandra has made guest appearances with the, Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, Redlands Symphony Orchestra, New Millennium Orchestra, Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Moment Musical, and the Young Artist Chamber Concert Series at the Kennedy Music Center. Solo recital appearances include the Chicago Cultural Center, Texas Conservatory for Young Artists, the Peace Center, Steinway Society concerts, and solo recital tours throughout the US and Taiwan. Her Steinway concert at Le Petit Trianon set a record for attendance! She has also appeared in the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing and the Frankfurt Cultural Center in Germany… Described as "A heart-stopping beauty" and "a dazzling pianist".

Sandra received first prizes in the Hilton Head International Piano Competition, the Mieczyslaw Munz Piano Competition, the Taiwan National Piano Competition, and the Peabody Frances M. Wentz Memorial Prize. Sandra has recorded 3 CDs, debuting with her Rachmaninoff's 3rd Piano Concerto. Sandra currently teaches at the Brevard Music Institute, and previously taught at Southern Illinois University. Mixing music and philanthropy, Sandra has raised over $23K by playing benefit concerts for earthquake victims, foster children, and education. An ambassador of classical music, she has taught classical music appreciation to beginning and advanced students, young and old, CEOs, children with severe mental retardation, and orphans. She was the host of a
classical radio program for FM 97.5 (Taiwan). Please visit her website: www.sandrashen.com

Victor Romasevich December 11, 2010

Victor Romasevich was born in Minsk, Belarus. His mother, Lena Lubotsky, began teaching him piano at the age of four. When five, he started violin studies with Anna Silberstein. At six, he enrolled in the violin class of Mikhail Garlitsky and Lev Sharinov at The Gnesin Music School in Moscow. As a youth he studied violin with Rostislav Dubinsky of the Borodin Quartet. He continued his training at the Moscow Conservatory with Boris Belenky and Nadia Beshkina. Following his emigration to the United States in 1977, he studied at Juilliard with Ivan Galamian. In 1979 he became a violin and viola pupil of the composer and philosopher Iosif Andriasov. Winner of the Gina Bachauer Prize at the 1985 J.S. Bach International Competition, Mr. Romasevich joined the San Francisco Symphony as Associate Principal Violist in 1990, and in 1992 moved to the First Violin section. He appears frequently in recitals and chamber concerts as a violinist, violist, and keyboard player.

Nanette McGuinness February 19, 2011

Lyric soprano Nanette McGuinness has been hailed in the press for her “creamy golden tone” and “glorious soprano.” She performed the roles of Mimì in the Czech Republic and Musetta in Italy, and was heard in the last few seasons as the First Lady in Mission City Opera’s Magic Flute, the Countess in Capitol Opera Sacramento/ Davis’ Le Nozze di Figaro, Mimì and Micaela with Verismo Opera, the Foreign Woman in Cinnabar Opera’s The Consul (Menotti) and Madam Bubble in Trinity Lyric Opera’s West Coast premiere of Vaughan-Williams’ Pilgrim’s Progress. A Training Artist for the S.F. Opera Guild,
she was a semi-finalist in the 2003 International Opera Singers Competition in New York and premiered the title role in William Ludtke's Gaia Sophia.

Ms. McGuinness made her stage debut performing the role of Nino in the American premiere of Semiramide by Marc'Antonio Cesti, conducted by Alan Curtis, and her professional debut in opera as Cis in Albert Herring with the Berkeley Opera Company. She has sung with Pacific Repertory Opera, West Bay Opera, Mission City Opera, Livermore Valley Opera, Opera San Jose (Opera in the Schools), Pocket Opera,
Trinity Lyric Opera, Oakland Opera, the Lamplighters, and North Bay Opera in roles that include the Lady with a Cake Box/ Soprano (Postcard from Morocco by Argento), Fiordiligi and Despina (Così fan Tutte), Lauretta and Nella (Gianni Schicchi), Anna (Le Villi by Puccini), Pamina (The Magic Flute), the Mother (Amahl and the Night Visitors), First Nymph, (Rusalka), Norina (Don Pasquale), and Pertelote (Chanticleer by Seymour Barab).

Solo concert engagements include the world premiere of William Ludtke's Christmas Suite with the San Jose Symphony (JoAnn Falletta conducting), the West Coast premiere of Ned Rorem's Homer, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Solano Community Symphony, and Messiah with the Solano Choral Society, as well as the Monterey Peninsula Choral Society, the Contra Costa Chorale and the New Millenium Strings. She also covered the soprano soloists of the 1990-1 season of the Berkeley Symphony (conducted by Kent Nagano),
the highlight of which was the West Coast premiere of the Suite from Messiaen's St. François d'Assise.

An avid recitalist, she has concertized throughout Califormia, as well as on the East Coast, and is often heard as with the Vinaccesi Ensemble (in Baroque repertory) and the Athena Trio. Her first CD, Fabulous Femmes (music by 19th and 20th century women composers), went into its second pressing on Centaur Records in 2007.

Ms. McGuinness began her musical education at the organ, adding piano, musicological, and vocal studies while at Cornell University. She received a MM in voice from Holy Names College and a PhD (specializing in musicology) from U.C. Berkeley. Her principal voice teachers have been Jane Randolph, Elizabeth Mannion, and Julia Monroe. Additional competitions include First Prize at the Martinez Opera Competition and First Prize at the Santa Clara University Art Song Festival Competition.

Bernhard Scully April 9, 2011

Bernhard Scully is the visiting professor of horn at the University of Illinois, Champagne-Urbana. There he is also a member of the U of I Brass Quintet and plays principal horn in the Sinfonia da Camera. Along with his performing, he also teaches horn literature and will be co-directing the orchestral repertoire class.

He is currently principal horn of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, where he has been featured as a soloist on many occasions including in Benjamin Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, and in Richard Strauss’ Concerto No. 2 for Horn and Orchestra.

Previous to the SPCO, Bernhard was the horn player of the Canadian Brass. During his time with this quintet, he performed in sixteen countries, on three separate continents, and recorded four CDs, as well as a top-ranked music video. With the group he performed in the world’s finest concert halls, sharing the stage and soloing with some of the world’s greatest symphony orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra, and the Toronto Symphony, among many others. Since his departure in 2007, he has been fortunate to return and play with them on numerous occasions.

He is a founding member of the Contrapunctus Brass, a group made up of musicians who hold major university and performing positions across the United States. Contrapunctus Brass has done outreach work to help under-funded school music programs, and has done a number of recordings.

Bernhard has been invited to be a guest artist at many workshops and conventions, where he has given lectures, master classes, and performed as a soloist. In 2008, he was featured with the Colorado Symphony in Lee Actor’s Concerto for Horn and Orchestra, which received much critical acclaim, and he has since performed the work in different settings across the United States. He has recorded “The G. Schirmer Horn Collection”, published by Hal Leonard, which includes much of the standard literature for horn and piano and is available in sheet music stores and online. He performed Gunther Schuller’s new Quintet for Horn and Strings with the Chamber Music Society of Minnesota in 2009, with the composer conducting to much critical acclaim. Bernhard performs often as a soloist with orchestras and ensembles nationwide.

In 2009 Bernhard became the first classical brass player to win Minnesota’s prestigious McKnight Foundation Artist Fellowship. The fellowship allowed him money for two recording projects and the opportunity to solo and teach across the state of Minnesota in 2009-2010. He received the Distinguished Music Alumni Award from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2010 for outstanding artistry. Bernhard has received awards from organizations such as the WAMSO Competition, The National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts, The Evergreen Society of Minnesota, and the Schubert Club.

Bernhard received his undergraduate degree with honors at Northwestern University, studying with Gail Williams and Roland Pandolfi. He received his masters degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he was a Paul Collins Distinguished Fellow, studying with Douglas Hill. He did further studies with Kendall Betts, in Germany with Hermann Baumann, and in Norway with Froydis Ree Werkre. In Madison, he won the student concerto competition with Rheinhold Gliere’s Concerto for Horn in B-flat, and performed as a member of the Madison Symphony and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.

A passionate teacher, Bernhard has been on the faculty of the Music Academy of the West, and has taught at the Eastman School of Music, along with his current position at the University of Illinois. He has given master classes to thousands of students across the world through his travels with the Canadian Brass. He has been part of the Kendall Betts Horn Camp in Littleton, NH since its inception in 1995. He teaches and performs alongside the Prairie Winds Woodwind Quintet at the Madeline Island Music Camp in WI, and he is on the faculty of the Raphael Mendez Brass Institute.

His wife, Sarah, is a music therapist. They are proud parents of their daughters Eleanor and Abigail. As a family, they enjoy having fun, spending time together, and playing with their Maine Coon cat, Sibelius.