Jackie Traish is originally from Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and currently lives in New York City as a musician, teaching artist, and arts administrator. She is a graduate of the Mannes School of Music at the College of Performing Arts at The New School where she received her Masters of Music in Orchestral Studies and her Professional Studies Diploma under the instruction of Judith Mendenhall (principal flutist of the American Ballet). Prior to this, she received her Bachelors in Music …

Rebecca Chaqor is originally from Brooklyn, New York. She has played at notable NYC venues such as Carnegie Hall, Avery Fischer Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Space, the Metropolitan Museum, and The Brooklyn Academy of Music. She has also performed at Place des Artes and the Musée de Beaux Artes in Montreal, Quebec. A cross-genre performer, Rebecca appeared with singer Dan Zanes at The Brooklyn Academy of Music and has experimented with Jazz, Improvisation, Klezmer and Folk music at venues …

Julian Gau is a conductor active in Boston, Providence, and New York. He is the founder and music director of the Horizon Ensemble, a Boston-based orchestra that plays music by friends alongside works of history. He is also the music director of the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York, a semi-professional traditional Chinese orchestra. Currently, he is serving as music director for Cabaret for Brown University in Providence, as well as a double bill of two Baroque operas: Caldara's The …

Mark Seto leads a wide-ranging musical life as a conductor, scholar, teacher, and violinist. He is Artistic Director and Conductor of The Chelsea Symphony in New York City, and Senior Lecturer in Music at Brown University, where he directs the Brown University Orchestra and teaches courses in music history, theory, and conducting. Recent highlights include performances with violinist Itzhak Perlman, violinist Randall Goosby, and clarinetist Anthony McGill, and the inauguration of The Lindemann Performing Arts Center at Brown University.

Since …

Damali Willingham is a conductor, composer, and bassoonist based in New Haven, CT. They recently graduated from the Berklee College of Music, where they made quite the impression as a young conductor. They served as a musical director and guest conductor of various ensembles, including the Berklee Motion Picture Orchestra, the school’s largest student-run ensemble. Damali attended the 2023 Aspen Conducting Academy and received the Robert J. Harth Award with the invitation to return for the 2024 Festival. They currently …