cello

Lilianna Zofia Wosko is a Chicago based classically trained cellist with primary focus on solo and chamber music performance. Lilianna received her Master's in Music in Cello Performance from Roosevelt University Chicago College of Performing Arts Music Conservatory.

Lilianna has appeared with classical, jazz, new music and international music ensembles in the Chicago area and abroad. She has performed with the Illinois Philharmonic, The Paderewski Symphony Orchestra, and Lira Ensemble, and was a principal cellist of The New North Shore Chamber Orchestra. In her commitment to expanding her repertoire, Lilianna incorporates elements of different musical genres into her style and has been a part of Alama de Tango Ensemble, Tangata Ensable, Tomorrow Music Orchestra, Dolce String Quartet, and Star Gate Orchestra. Often asked to perform for various cultural and music events, Lilianna has been a part of MusicNow concert series at the Chicago’s Harris Theater for Music and Dance, The Rose of Stambul production at Chopin Theatre with Chicago Folks Operatta, Chris Preissing’s Thunder Perfect Mind production with NON:op, has played with Borderbend Arts Collective at the Baha'i Temple as part of Devotions with Music series, and collaborated with Chicago Film Archive in 2018 Mixed Media Project.

Actively involved in the Chicago music community, Lilianna has worked and performed with Fred Lonberg-Holm, Frank Rosaly, Paul Giallorenzo, Matt Ulery, Mike Reed, Tim Daisy, Joel Styzens, Eric Leonardson, Christopher Preissing, Ben LaMar, Renee Baker, Quinlan Kirchner, Kahil El Zabar, and Theaster Gates.

Lilianna has recorded music for commercials at Earhole Studios, performed and recorded with Grazyna Auguscik, and released four of her own CDs : My Christmas, Edited to Form, and Episodes 1-12, and 'Lilianna Zofia Wosko'. She can often be heard playing at Zhou B Art Center, Hungry Brain, Constellation, Elastic Arts, The Bridgeport Art Center, Metro Chicago, The Empty Bottle, The Hideout Inn, Green Mill Cocktail Lounge, and Beat Kitchen. www.liliannazofiawosko.com

violin

Italian violinist Erica Carpenedo has toured Europe, United States and Asia as a soloist, chamber and orchestra musician, performing at some of the world’s most breathtaking venues, such as Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, Orchestra Hall of the Chicago Symphony Center and Singapore’s Esplanade Concert Hall. 

As a soloist, Erica Carpenedo has been featured with the RGS Orchestra of Singapore, College of Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Strumentale Italiana, Orchestra Sinfonica del Conservatorio Giuseppe Tartini di Trieste, Orchestra Sinfonica del Veneto Orientale, and Piccola Orchestra Veneta. She has shared the stage with extraordinary artists such as Maxim Vengerov, Janine Jansen, Gidon Kremer, Igudesman & Joo and 2Cellos, and performed under the baton of conductors such as Riccardo Muti and Daniel Oren. 

Erica Carpenedo’s beloved teachers and mentors include Ilya Kaler, Lee-Chin Siow, Igor Volochine, Pavel Vernikov, Olexsandr Semchuk and Caterina Carlini. She attended the Master Courses of National Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome and the International Specialization Courses of Fondazione Musicale Santa Cecilia in Portogruaro. She holds a BM degree from Conservatorio Giuseppe Tartini di Trieste and a MM degree from DePaul University in Chicago, where she studied on a full scholarship. Erica Carpenedo is a laureate of MTNA Competition, International Competition Premio Città di Padova, National Competition Dino Caravita - Città di Fusignano, Violin Competition Citta’ di Schio, and Premio Nazionale delle Arti, MIUR. She is the recipient of the Julian Hayes and Clifford Milton Award for Excellence in Strings, Grand Prix Anne Marie Bollo Rambaud, and Enrico Segattini Scholarship. 

Erica Carpenedo plays in a violin and piano duo with her brother Edoardo Carpenedo and regularly performs in Chicago with her string quartet. She bonds her upbringing as a classical violinist with passion for other music genres, as well as dancing and singing. She regularly performs with Chicago’s top big bands, jazz and latin ensembles, toures with Broadway shows, and collaborates with pop artists and DJs. In addition to performing, Erica Carpenedo deeply enjoys teaching her students. She is currently a violin teacher and chamber music coach at Merit School of Music and Alice S. Pfaelzer Tuition-free Conservatory in Chicago. Her students have won top prizes at national competitions and perform together in creative ensembles.

violin

Kelly Jozwiak is one of the most versatile violinists in the industry. Coming from a family of professional musicians, Kelly’s involvement in music began at age three when her parents enrolled her in Suzuki violin lessons. Only 25 years old, Kelly has 22 years of classical violin training, and numerous years of rock, fiddle, middle-eastern, and jazz violin as well as piano and voice. In 2012, Kelly was honored with a generous scholarship to Berklee College of Music, which set her on a path to a lifelong performing career.

In Chicago, Kelly has worked as a recurring musician in the hit Fox TV show, Empire, playing with Terrance Howard. Kelly worked with other artists such as Siedah Garrett, Patti Austin, Bill Whelan, and John Oates of Hall and Oates. She has played at many music festivals such as Lollapalooza and Electric Forest with Grammy nominated artist, KYGO. One of Kelly’s passions is playing as a pit musician for musicals. She has played for shows including West Side Story, Jesus Christ Super Star, A Little Princess and Sondheim On Sondheim. As a Suzuki trained teacher, Kelly is inspired everyday by her violin, viola and piano students. Kelly also enjoys providing music for weddings, leaving a special touch for each couple. Kelly’s career continues to evolve as a soloist, pit/session musician, contractor and more.

violin

John received his Bachelor's degree Magna Cum Laude and Master's degree with distinction from the Peabody Conservatory, as the recipient of the J.C. van Hulsteyn Award for Violin.

His teachers and mentors have included Herbert Greenberg, concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Dmitri Berlinsky, Grand Prize Winner of the Paganini International Violin Competition.

He completed his Doctoral of Musical Arts in Violin Performance at Michigan State University. As a chamber musician, John has performed with Yo-Yo Ma and musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for the Symphony Center Presents Series. He was also a member of the chamber orchestra group “International Chamber Soloists”.

John has served as concertmaster with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, MSU Symphony Orchestra and Ad Libitum Chamber Orchestra. An active freelance musician in the Chicago area, he currently performs with the Chicago Opera Theater and many other small ensembles.

John is a faculty member at the Merit School of Music and Midwest Conservatory of Music.

viola

Erin Updegraff began her viola studies at age 9 through her public elementary school's orchestra program. She was told she had "viola hands" (bigger hands than most 9 year olds) so she picked up the instrument and hasn't looked back. She attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she majored in Business Administration but minored in music, studying viola with Rudolf Haken and playing for the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra and the Sinfonia da Camera. She then earned her Master's degree in Viola Performance at DePaul University, studying with the late Rami Solomonow. In the Chicagoland area, she has performed with the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, the Northbrook Symphony, the Park Ridge Civic Orchestra, the Rockford Symphony and the Oistrakh Symphony. She was a member of the Dolce Strings Ensemble for eleven years, fulfilling a lifelong goal of playing in an all-female string quartet with a focus on pop and rock music. In her free time, she enjoys singing and dancing with her two young children, who are already looking very likely to have "viola hands."

violin/viola

guitar

Mason Jiller presents original works, improvisations & standards from the jazz repertoire. His sounds are reminiscent of the beautiful grit of both city & nature. They weave stories of community, history, dance & love.

Mason is an emitter of light who views music as a symbol of freedom which has a deep resonant ability to dissolve boundaries to increase understanding & empathy between beings. His sounds reimagine paradigms & hearken to boundless definitions of what collaborative music can be.

www.masonjiller.com

cello

An Iowa native, David Keller received early instruction in piano, cello, and guitar.  After a music-filled upbringing he attended the University of Northern Iowa where he studied cello, composition, jazz, and music theory.  As an Iowa cellist he performed with the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra, the Oskaloosa Symphony, and the Cedar Rapids Symphony.

David has been involved in many diverse musical endeavors in the Chicago music scene.  In 2009 he received degrees in music education and cello performance from Roosevelt University where he studied with members of the Chicago Symphony and Lyric Opera.  David has worked as a teacher, studio musician as guitarist and cellist, and with many theatres including Bailiwick Chicago, Theo Ubique, The Music Theatre Company, Pride Films and Plays, Harper College, and Morton College.

He explores numerous musical avenues such as rock, jazz, classical, new classical music, and improvisation and has performed at the Cultural Center, Green Mill, Double Door and the Old Town School of Folk Music.

Currently David teaches piano, guitar, and strings at Access Contemporary Music.  He is also the orchestra director at St. Edwards School in Chicago.

guitar

Samuel Mösching is a professional guitarist, composer and bandleader who has headlined performances internationally, including in the U.S., Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, England and Argentina, being accompanied by illustrious artists like Isaiah Collier, Marquis Hill, Makaya McCraven, John Stowell, Mars Williams, Rusty Jones, Gerry Hemingway, Adrian Mears, Maggie Brown, Vincent Davis, Reuben Gingrich, Wanees Zarour, Jim Baker, Zeshan B & The Transistors, Subhi and Jonas Tauber. The long list of venues and festivals includes the Blue Note and the Lincoln Center in NYC, the Green Mill, the Constellation and the Jazz Showcase in Chicago, Ravinia, the Chicago Jazz Festival, the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Bonnaroo Festival, Late Night with Stephen Colbert at the Ed Sullivan Theater, and “The Morning Shift” on NPR.

www.samuelmosching.com

viola

Violist Aleksa Masyuk is a freelance musician and an active chamber and orchestral player in the Chicago area. As a classical violist, Aleksa has performed in China, New Zealand and Australia.

Aleksa has performed alongside the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under maestro Riccardo Muti during her tenure as a regular member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. She has shared the stage with Yo-Yo Ma throughout Chicago as well as on tour.

Aleksa has served as principal violist of the DePaul Opera Orchestra and assistant principal violist of the DePaul Symphony Orchestra. She performs regularly with the Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra and Kankakee Valley Symphony Orchestra.

Aleksa Masyuk holds a graduate degree from DePaul University, where she studied under Rami Solomonow and Li-Kuo Chang. She received her Bachelor of Music from University of Colorado, Boulder. During her time at University of Colorado, Aleksa was the violist of the Ethos String Quartet and received extensive coaching from the renowned Takács Quartet.

Mrs. Masyuk is a multi-faceted musician who experiments in Klezmer and Ukrainian folk music. She also teaches violin and viola throughout the Chicago area.

violin

Elisabeth Johnson is a Chicago based Violinist, Multi-Instrumentalist, Composer and Educator. A graduate of The Chicago School of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, she holds a degree in Musicology with an emphasis in Violin Performance. Along with actively performing classical music and in orchestras including Renovo String Orchestra, Chicago Folks Operetta, and Rockford Symphony, Elisabeth has played a part of many projects that scope a myriad of different World, Folk, Rock, and Jazz traditions including Filmstock Quartet, a Brazilian Choro Ensemble, Solaranja, Redwood Tango and Origin of Animal, a contemporary rock and jazz orchestra. A continual love and dedication to world music has also fueled her continual study, work on transcriptions, arrangements and performances of many other violin/fiddle folk traditions. Elisabeth has been performing traditional Eastern European and Yiddish music with the Chicago Klezmer Ensemble since 2003. She has also performed and recorded inTurkish/Ottoman, Jewish, Armenian, Syrian, Arabic, Assyrian, Greek and Balkan settings including the University of Chicago Middle Eastern Ensemble, Lamajamal, Essam Sawi, Trio Ela, Elas 2000 Greek Wedding Band, Anemos Greek Folk Dance Troupe, as well as Mosaic; a repertoire that runs the gamut of vast folk and classical genres comprised of violin, oud, clarinet, qanun, sandouri, percussion and other such traditional instrumentation and musical settings from a diaspora of Middle Eastern cultures and repertoire.

audio engineering

Joel Nadal has a Bachelors degree in audio production and has been an audio engineer in the Chicagoland area for over a decade.

guitar

Chicago guitarist, Geordie Kelly, has been described as a first-class, gifted guitarist and composer (Vic Juris). He has been privileged to share the stage with artists such as Larry Coryell, Ed Calle, Bobby Shew, Phil DeGreg, Maureen McGovern, Frank Mantooth, Bob Bowman, Ritchie Cole, Little Anthony and the Imperials, The Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and The Turtle Island String Quartet. He was also a founding member and performer with the jazz combo "Skipjack Trio" in The United States Navy Band in Washington, D.C.

Geordie has two recordings under his own name (Triple Play and Nowhere…Now Here). His playing and compositions have garnered recognition and respect from other notable jazz guitarists (Jonathan Kreisberg, Vic Juris, Bruce Saunders, Corey Christiansen, Jimmy Bruno, Steve Abshire, and Bob Roetker) and jazz critics alike (Scott Yanow).

His teaching and academic résumé includes having taught guitar, jazz improvisation, jazz combo performance techniques, and jazz ensemble performance techniques at the Armed Forces School of Music. Selected as a guest clinician, he presented portions of his research on the performance techniques of Joe Pass at the 1997 IAJE Conference in Chicago, Ill. Later that same year, he published a transcription of In Mellow Tone from Joe Pass' Portraits of Ellington album in Down Beat.

Geordie studied guitar with Jimmy Bruno, and holds music degrees from East Carolina University and the University of Kentucky.

He has performed extensively in North America, Europe, Asia, and in parts of Africa; 56 countries and counting. His recordings have met with tremendous success all over the world including Canada, Australia, The Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Japan, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, South Korea, and Israel.

Recognized internationally as a first-class jazz guitarist and composer, he earned the prestigious honor of becoming a Heritage Guitars Artist (since 2001).