Performance Artists

PERFORMANCE ARTISTS: THE DEERING ESTATE CHAMBER ENSEMBLE

The DEERING ESTATE CHAMBER ENSEMBLE is comprised of founding members: Jose R. Lopez, piano (Coordinator of Keyboard Studies, Florida International University), Ross Harbaugh, cello (University of Miami), Scott Flavin, violin, (University of Miami) and Laura Wilcox, viola (Greater Miami Youth Symphony artistic staff). This ensemble came together out of a mutual respect for nature and the beautiful Deering Estate with a love to perform chamber music, work with living composers, and interact with, history, nature and other art forms. Thanks to The Deering Estate Foundation, Inc. and The Miami-Dade Parks and Recreation this ensemble has been able to fulfill a unique partnership with The Deering Estate at Cutler. From different parts of the Americas and sharing in vast musical experiences worldwide, The Deering Estate Ensemble brings its audiences diverse listening experiences. The ensemble is also committed to teaching young musicians and present public master-classes throughout the season. Just in its third year of inception The Deering Estate Chamber Ensemble has received awards from the Met-Life Foundation/Meet the Composer and Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs.

The ensemble's pianist, JOSÉ R. LÓPEZ is Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Keyboard Department at Florida International University. He has performed throughout the United States, Italy and Central and South America. A founding member of the Deering Estate's Living Artist Concert Series, Dr. López is a versatile pianist, an enthusiastic performer and collaborator of chamber music and solo repertoire which spans all epochs from the baroque to contemporary works of today with living composers. He has recorded for SNE, Albany and Innova record labels.

Canadian/American violist/violinist, LAURA WILCOX has collaborated in many crossover ventures with artists and composers from North America, Asia, Europe, Central and South America. She currently is active as a pedagogue for string students in South Florida and as the Music Director for the Living Artist Concert Series. Laura's CDs are with the SNE label.

ROSS HARBAUGH, Professor (Violoncello), cellist with the Bergonzi String Quartet, is a regular recitalist and lecturer around the United States. He earned B.A. and B.M. degrees from Bowling Green University, with post graduate studies at Indiana University and Paris Conservatory. Harbaugh won the Naumburg Chamber Music Prize and a Prix du Disque with the New World Quartet, and has performed in Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, and London's Wigmore Hall.

SCOTT FLAVIN, Professor of violin at the University of Miami is a member of the Bergonzi String Quartet, and director of chamber and baroque ensembles. His recordings include chamber music on the Centaur and Naxos labels as well as commercial recordings for Sony, EMI, and Warner Brothers. Mr. Flavin performs on a rare Italian violin made in 1780 by Tomaso Eberle.

Resident Composer: JUDITH SHATIN Educated at Douglass College (AB, Phi Beta Kappa), The Juilliard School (MM) and Princeton University (PhD), is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor and Director of the Virginia Center for Computer Music, which she founded at the University of Virginia in 1987. Ms. Shatin is a composer, sound artist, community arts partner and educator.

YOUTH ARTIST IN RESIDENCE AND COLLABORATING ORGANIZATION:
"GREATER MIAMI YOUTH SYMPHONY"
The Greater Miami Youth Symphony strives to enrich the cultural foundation of our community, while instilling lifelong values of discipline, teamwork, responsibility, respect, and cultural appreciation to young musicians, ages five through eighteen, through learning, rehearsing, and performing in professional, positive environments." The GMYS serves the youth of South Florida. Young musicians are from multi-ethnic backgrounds and scholarships are available ensuring that no child will be turned away from GMYS for financial reasons.

COLLABORATING ORGANIZATION:
"FROST SCHOOL OF MUSIC"
As one of the most comprehensive music units in American higher education, and as a free-standing school within a major research university, the Frost School of Music perpetuates a historic commitment to the values inherent in the juxtaposition of professional and general studies in undergraduate curricula. The comprehensiveness of the School’s undergraduate and graduate programs manifests a philosophy that places importance upon establishing and maintaining connections between its instructional and associated activities and the broad spectrum of music and music-related fields for which it seeks to prepare its students. The four-fold mission of the Frost School of Music is: 1) To provide a high quality of music education and training for its undergraduate and graduate majors; 2) To foster advancements in music performance, creativity, research, scholarship, and teaching among its faculty; 3) To serve the general student population of the University; and 4) To act as an educational and cultural resource for the University, South Florida, and national and international constituencies.

COLLABORATING ORGANIZATION:
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY/SCHOOL OF MUSIC/WERTHEIM PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
The 68 FIU School of Music faculty members form a dynamic community of artist-scholars who publish in respected national and international journals, perform in prestigious venues throughout the world, and record on major labels. They are also superb teachers dedicated to success who prepare students for professional careers in music with a rigorous first-class academic and artistic education. Our goal is to provide students with a superb education in a professional atmosphere. We offer the finest faculty available and numerous performance opportunities in varied and important venues both on campus and off. Among the nation's 25 largest universities, FIU is ranked as a Research University in the High Research Activity category of the Carnegie Foundation’s prestigious classification system. The FIU School of Music serves over 300 music majors from eighteen countries with twenty-four fulltime faculty and forty-four adjunct faculty members and is housed within the new College of Architecture and the Arts. http://music.fiu.edu