2024 ZENITH ARTISTS

Global Music Silver Medalist Yang and Olivia is a dynamic violin-piano duo who create an unforgettable storytelling event in their program, featuring contemporary and classical works from different parts of the world. In recent years, not only have they traveled to more than 30 cities in the United States, they have also been performing and teaching in China, Portugal, Brazil, and Taiwan. Currently, they are both faculty members of VanderCook College of Music in Chicago. The duo founded the Yang and Olivia Foundation, advocating diversity, equity, and inclusion through music of different cultures. The foundation’s achievements are recognized by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, MidAtlantic Arts, and Illinois Arts Council Agency.

Dr. Andrew Seigel teaches applied clarinet and chamber music at SUNY Fredonia in New York. He performs regularly with the Fredonia Wind Quintet, the Western NY Chamber Orchestra, the Erie Chamber Orchestra, the Buffalo Chamber Players and the Silverwind Duo. Dr. Seigel's teaching focuses on solo and chamber clarinet repertoire, chamber music, and collaborative endeavors. His research delves into Hungarian clarinet repertoire, the art of effective practice, and the intricate connections between language and music.

EleanorGrace (Eleanor Berntsen) is a 19-year-old Iowa native who leapt on to the Des Moines music scene 3 years ago with her debut single, “Lighthouse.” As a creator, musician, and songwriter, her eclectic sense of creativity has led her to write songs spanning multiple genres and styles. Her focus is on telling stories with her music either through the character in the lyrics or through her own emotions.

The Indianapolis Quartet, composed of Zachary DePue, violin, Joana Genova, violin, Michael Isaac Strauss, viola, and Egor Antonenko, cello was founded in 2016 and currently serves as a quartet-in-residence at the University of Indianapolis, Praised for “its energetic, often kinetic, enthusiasm, and each player's virtuosity and flexibility (New York Concert Review). The members’ palpable rapport and interpretive skills bring about performances of a unique emotional style that have earned the group critical acclaim and audience adoration. In addition to their extensive repertoire of classical, romantic, and 20th-century works, The Indianapolis Quartet has commissioned and performed new works by Robert Paterson, Frank Felice, Matthew Bridgham, and John Berners.

Composer Kian Ravaei takes tone painting to a new level, synthesizing diverse inspirations into evocative musical portraits. Whether he is composing piano preludes inspired by mythical creatures, flute melodies that mimic the songs of endangered birds, or a string quartet that draws from the Iranian music of his ancestral heritage, he takes listeners on a spellbinding tour of humanity’s most deeply felt emotions. Chamber musicians have championed his works, leading to commissions from Chamber Music Northwest — where he served as a Protégé Project Composer-in-Residence — as well as Seattle Chamber Music Society and Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival. His rapidly expanding catalog has earned him notable honors such as a Copland House CULTIVATE Fellowship, a Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Composer Teaching Artist Fellowship, a New Music USA Creator Fund Award, and a Barlow Endowment Commission. 

Miera Kim, violinist, is the Executive Director of Red Cedar Chamber Music. An Iowa native, she began her violin studies with Doris Preucil at the Preucil School of Music at age seven. She furthered her studies with Jascha Brodsky at the Curtis Institute of Music and Allen Ohmes at the University of Iowa. Miera was a longtime titled player in both Orchestra Iowa and the Quad Cities Symphony and is in high demand as a teacher, clinician, and chamber musician across the region. She has also served as a grant panelist for the Iowa Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. Miera plays a 1735 Nicolò Gagliano violin.

As a violist and occasional violinist, Lucas has performed chamber music across Denmark, Canada, and the United States. After working in string quartets with principal players of major orchestras and assisting the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and Danish National Symphony Orchestra, he was recently appointed Principal Violist of Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra; Associate Principal Violist of Sioux City Symphony Orchestra; and Section Violist with Des Moines Symphony. Lucas currently freelances with a variety of ensembles in the Upper Midwest.

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​As a fiddler, mandolinist, and singer, Blekeberg is a folk and roots musician, performing as a collaborator and solo artist. Also a multi-genre improviser and composer, he shares progressive music live and digitally. His session work has included a Polaris Prize and Juno Award-winning album. His rhythm piano-oriented singer-songwriter EP will be released in 2024.

Professor Réne Lecuona is co-chair of the piano area at the University of Iowa. She has performed in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and Scotland as well as throughout Latin America and the United States. She earned undergraduate and master's degrees at Indiana University. She was awarded a Performer’s Certificate and a doctorate from the Eastman School of Music, where she also won the concerto competition. Her teachers have included Rebecca Penneys, Menahem Pressler, Edward Auer, Shigeo Neriki, Laurie Conrad, and György Sebök. 

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Réne Lecuona’s performances and recordings have received high praise: “Lecuona seems to lavish well-considered planning to every note she plays. Her control of the keyboard is amazing” (Karl F. Miller, Fanfare Magazine, Nov/Dec 2019).

Clarence Padilla is a Professor of Music (clarinet) at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and has concertized, conducted, and presented master classes across the United States. International performances and teaching presentations have been given in Italy, Ecuador, Brazil, France, China, Mexico, Germany, and Austria. Clarence Padilla has released three solo recordings: In Play (2014), With the Wind (2010), and Playing Through (2002).  Additionally, he appears as a soloist on two recordings with the Drake University Wind Symphony - Mosaic (Liquid Ebony by Dana Wilson) and Collage (Jazz Suite for Clarinet and Wind Symphony by Bill Liston). Clarence Padilla has been a regular member of the Des Moines Symphony for 24 years. He appeared as a clarinet soloist with the orchestra in 2013 and served as the Acting Principal Clarinet for the 2010-11 Concert Season. 

Gregory Oakes is an exciting and energetic clarinetist performer and a passionate champion of the music of our time. From his Carnegie Hall debut with members of Ensemble Intercontemporain and Pierre Boulez to his performances as a member of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Oakes has been praised by critics for his “outstanding performance” (New York Times) and “jazzy flourishes” (Denver Post). Oakes has performed at multiple International Clarinet Association ClarinetFests, the University of Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium, the New Music Gathering, and the International Computer Music Conference. He has performed throughout the United States, Brazil, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Thailand. He has held residencies at Princeton, Harvard, Dartmouth, Aspen, and Amsterdam's STEIM. His CD Aesthetic Apparatus: Clarinet Chamber Music of Helmut Lachenmann appears on the New Focus Recordings label. His other recordings appear on Bridge, Centaur, CRI, Gothic, Karnatic Lab Records, and Naxos and broadcasts on National Public Radio. Oakes is on the faculty of Iowa State University and is principal clarinet of the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra.