Meet The Musicians

MARINA DICHENKO, CONCERTMASTER

Marina Dichenko studied violin in Kharkov at Central Music School, Ukraine. After graduation, she continued her studies in Gnessin's Acade-my of Music in Moscow, Russia and TCU School of Music, Fort Worth, Texas. As a soloist and member of chamber groups, Marina has performed in concerts and festivals in Ukraine, Russia, Belgium, and Japan. Marina was awarded second prize in Chamber music competition in Do-netsk, Ukraine and fourth prize in the International Competition of Chamber music in Kaluga, Russia. In 2014, she graduated from the Artist Diplo-ma program at TCU School of Music. During the last three years she has been the principal violin in the TCU Symphony Orchestra as well as at Odysseus Chamber Orchestra. Her other performance credits include concerts with San Angelo, Las Colinas, Arlington, Garland and Plano Symphony Orchestras. Marina is currently a teaching artist at B Sharp Youth Music Program.

JIAXI LIU - Associate Concertmaster

Jiaxi Liu was born in China, where he began to study violin at age of 6. In 2005, Jiaxi Liu was admitted to the Affiliated High school of Wuhan Conservatory of Music at age of 12. Upon studying there, he won First Prize in the “Qingyang” TV Live Competition. Jiaxi Liu also auditioned and was cast as the main role of a music student in the digital movie RUN MA XIAOCUI (2010) which is broadcasted on the national television channel CCTV-6 in China. During his undergraduate study at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Jiaxi Liu was playing section violin in Shanghai Oriental Symphony Orchestra and got invited to the national television channel CCTV-15, for a live music performance. After completing his bachelor’s degree at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 2011, Jiaxi Liu went to Louisiana State University for graduate study as a teaching assistant, where he also performed in various regional orchestras, which including Rapides Symphony Orchestra, Acandiana Symphony Orchestra, and Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. Recently, Jiaxi Liu is a doctoral candidate at the University of North Texas. Jiaxi Liu represents UNT the School of Music as the Concertmaster and the first violin in the UNT Symphony Orchestra and Bancroft Quartet since 2017. During his study at UNT, Jiaxi Liu won the UNT Concerto Competition and presented a winner concert. In 2019, Jiaxi Liu was sponsored and invited to the Aspen Music Festival and served as an orchestra member in the Aspen Festival Orchestra. Among many artists that Mr. Liu has studied and collaborated includes Charles Castleman, James Ehnes, Robert Chen, Esther Yoo, Stefan Jackiw, Darrett Adkins, Joyce Yang, Yefim Bronfman, etc. As an experienced violin teacher, in the past years, Mr. Liu was recruited as the teaching assistant at UNT. On top of that, Jiaxi Liu is also running a private string studio in Royal Music Academy in Plano, where the school currently has enrolled more than 400 students. In addition to his teaching activities, Jiaxi Liu also involved with many regional orchestra’s performance and events. For example, he recently served as the Associate Concertmaster of McKinney Philharmonic and the judge of GNYTO Concerto Competition.

SARA SASAKI, PRINCIPAL SECOND VIOLIN

Sara Sasaki is a violinist based in Dallas, Texas, and has a 15 year teaching and performing career. She became a graduate of The University of Texas Butler School of Music with an Artist Diploma degree in 2018, studying primarily with Sandy Yamamoto. Previously she has earned her Master of Music degree from The University of Texas Butler School of Music and Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, studying with David Bowlin.

While studying at UT, she held the positions of Concertmaster and Principal Second Violin with the University of Texas Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Gerhardt Zimmermann, Concertmaster with the University of Texas New Music Ensemble, and Concertmaster of the Bach Cantata Project under the direction of Dr. James Morrow. She has been a performer and fellow at The Next Festival of Emerging Artists, sound SCAPE composition and performance exchange, Heifetz International Music Institute, Aspen Music Festival, and Eastern Music Festival.

In the DFW area, she performs with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Lawton Philharmonic, McKinney Philharmonic Orchestra, and Plano Symphony Orchestra. She additionally enjoys playing bluegrass and jazz music, and has been a featured artist with The Quibble Brothers and Anthony Nagid. Sara resides in Dallas with her husband Charlie and cats Kikko and Yoshi, and loves working with her wonderful students on a weekly basis.

YESESNIA CAMPOS WONG, FIRST VIOLIN

A native of Amarillo, TX, Yesenia Campos completed her graduate studies in Violin Performance at Southern Methodist University and her undergraduate studies in Violin Performance at West Texas A&M University. Her studies included work with world renowned soloist Chee-Yun Kim, mentors Annie Chalex, Tomas Cotik, and Dr. Keith Redpath. While at SMU, Mrs. Campos served as the graduate assistant for the chamber music program and while at WTAMU, Mrs. Campos served as concertmaster of the West Texas A&M Symphony Orchestra for three years. As a chamber music enthusiast, Mrs. Campos was awarded the West Texas String Quartet Scholarship and served as the first violinist of the quartet during her undergraduate studies at West Texas A&M. As a soloist, Mrs. Campos won the concerto competition at West Texas A&M on two separate occasions, awarding her the opportunity to perform movements from the Bruch Violin concerto as well as the Barber Violin Concerto with the WTAMU Symphony Orchestra. Mrs. Campos has also performed at several music festivals including the American Festival for the Arts, the Hot Springs Music Festival, and the Midwest Young Artist Music Festival, as well as served as a first violinist with the Amarillo Symphony for eight years. Mrs. Campos is currently the co-director at Poteet High School in Mesquite, TX

DANIELLE MENDELSON, FIRST VIOLIN

Danielle Mendelson was born in Israel where she began her formal training at the Jerusalem Academy of Music. Danielle has performed with internationally recognized orchestras which includes The Israel Philharmonic orchestra, Israel Symphony orchestra, Israel chamber orchestra, Raanana symphony orchestra, Jerusalem symphony orchestra and Ashdod symphony orchestra. She has appeared as soloist with the Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Raanana Symphony Orchestra and Lithuania Chamber Orchestras and has performed solo concerts in USA, Switzerland, Austria, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Germany, South Africa, Israel, France and Spain. She has also performed on several occasions with the “Voice of Music”, an Israeli broadcast radio. Since 2013 Danielle has joined the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra on tours to Japan and Brazil. Danielle is currently a member of Las-Colinas Symphony Orchestra and Odysseus Chamber Orchestra.

NICOLE PAGLIALONGA, 1st Violin. Orchestra Manager and Orchestra Librarian.

Violinist Nicole Paglialonga enjoys a diverse career as a recitalist, orchestral musician, teacher, administrator, and community builder. Currently, she serves on the artistic team at The Cliburn; in performance, she is a member of the McKinney Philharmonic (where she also serves as orchestra manger) and the Waco Symphony, and frequently subs with other area orchestras.

An advocate of new music, her performance of Mark Phillips’ Violin Power at the 2015 Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in America was a highlight of the event and was later selected to be included in a commercial release celebrating the conference. She premiered Immanuel Abraham’s “The Warm Up” Caprice at Spectrum in NYC, and was included in the publication of the set of Caprices. She ran two successful workshops in effective writing for the violin for the composition students at the University of Florida, which concluded with a lecture recital on current compositional trends. Other highlights include solo performances and masterclasses at universities in Thailand, Colombia, Austria, and across the United States.

Ms. Paglialonga has also worked extensively in the commercial music industry across a wide variety of genres. She has appeared alongside legendary performers such as Weird Al Yankovic, Seal, Styx, Clay Aiken, Idina Menzel, and Johnny Mathis (with whom she toured on multiple occasions).

Ms. Paglialonga recently taught in Frisco and Northwest ISDs, and served on the faculty at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, where she was also the Director of the Virginia Tech String Project. She has also been on the string faculty at Bethune-Cookman University, Bluefield College, Patel Conservatory, and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. Ms. Paglialonga is particularly passionate about bringing classical music to traditionally underserved communities. In 2013, in cooperation with the Radford City Schools District, she founded the Radford Youth Strings to expand the musical opportunities for local students. As a board member for the Friends of the Roanoke Symphony, she organized the Smiles Outreach Series, which sponsored performances by nationally recognized professional musicians in area public schools. She also launched an initiative with St. Albans Psychiatric Hospital called “Music for Mental Health,” which provided therapeutic music to patients.

YULIA PETKEVICH, Violin

Born in Moscow in 1990. Yulia Petkevich began receiving basic music education as a violinist at the Edvard Grieg Music School. From 2005 to 2009 she studied at the Gnesin College of Music with Professor Vladislav Igolinsky. In 2005 Yulia graduated from the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music in the class of Dean of the string department, Alexander Dogadaev.
During her studies, Yulia received inspiration from first-rate professors such as Dora Schwarzberg, Gerhard Schulz, Krzysztof Wegrzyn, Philippe Graffin, Anna Kandinskaya, Victor Tretyakov, Natalia Lihopoi and Yair Kless. She studied two years with Michael Vaiman, a professor of the Cologne High School of Music. Yulia has participated in many international festivals: Moscow Festival of Youth Soloists (2007), Polish International Festival of Chamber Music (2008), Festival of Romantic Music (2009 Moscow), and the chamber music festival “Musica Classica” (2012).
Yulia also participated in summer orchestra and chamber music courses in Germany (Ochsenhausen 2008-2012), Sweden (Aurora Chamber Music Festival, 2011, 2012, 2013), Italy (Scuola di Musica del Garda, 2015, and Talent Music Master Courses, Brescia 2016), and Berlin (Berlin Music Academy, Deutschland, 2017). Yulia was a prize-winning violinist in International Competitions in Russia: “International Romantic Music Competition for Young Performers” (2009, Moscow); “Musica Classica” (2012 Moscow); and Europe: 11th International Competition “Premio citta di Padova,” Italy, (2012); “1st International Competition for Performing Musicians,” Nottingham, UK (2013), 13th International Competition “Don Vincenzo Vitti” Italy, Castellana Grotte, (2014), 25th International Competition “Citta di Barletta,” Italy, (2015), and 7th International Competition, AMIGDALA Memorial Giuseppe Raciti “Sicilia” (2017).

EMMANUEL KWOK, CELLO

“Tsun-yuet’s wide knowledge of cello technique and repertoire will be a wonderful resource…… His work ethic will without a doubt inspire all those around him.”Christine Lamprea, Artist-Teacher of Cello, Longy School of MusicNative of Hong Kong, Tsun-yuet Emmanuel Kwok has appeared as soloist in Europe, Asia, and the United States, and has also performed over 30 world premieres of contemporary music. Currently Kwok is a member of McKinney Philharmonic Orchestra and has previously played with orchestras including the Dallas Chamber Symphony, Plano Symphony, Irving Symphony, Hong Kong New Philharmonic, Collegium Musicum Hong Kong and Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. He played solo and chamber recitals both in Asia and in the States, and solo appearances with orchestras including Mesquite Symphony, Mansfield Philharmonic, Coppell Community Orchestra, Collegium Musicum Hong Kong, Hong Kong Academy of Performing Art Academy Orchestra and Hong Kong Baptist University Symphony Orchestra. He has received awards including 1st prize in the Hong Kong Music Festival and 2nd prize in the National
Competition of Asia. In addition to his classical performance, he worked with worship ministries and pop singers in Southeast Asia, recorded more than ten albums as solo cellist; in 2021, he also worked with
RedSeaMusic (CA, USA) to produce music videos. Kwok began cello study under Ms. Tung Hiu-lo, later he has finished his Master of Music in cello performance with Professor Ray Wang at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. He is currently a doctoral candidate (ABD) at TCU School of Music, majoring in Cello Performance with cognate in Music Theory. In the U.S. his primary teachers included Jesús Castro-Balbi and Eugene Osadchy. He also had the privilege of coaching by Johannes Moser, Lynn Harrell, Steven Isserlis, Vagram Saradjian, Dmitri Atapine, Maja Bogdanovic and Li-Wei Qin. As musician and scholar, Kwok holds memberships of Pi Kappa Lambda International Music Honor Society and Golden Key International Honor Society, and is a regular member of Mu Phi Epsilon Concert Series. As a music arranger, his arrangement has been played by different
ensembles including Texas Cellos and Texas Cello School. Kwok currently served as faculty of Greenville Suzuki Strings and performance artist of Prime Music Institute; he was appointed as assistant to artistic director of the Texas Cello School in 2021. He had served as faculty of Clear Creek Music Festival (OR), TCU Summer Cello Academy, Greater North Texas Youth Orchestra and Fort Worth B Sharp Youth Music Program; he also had previously served as teaching assistant of international renowned cellist Jesús Castro-Balbi, as well as assistant director of TCU Cello Ensemble. Kwok believes in Authentic Christianity and the philosophy of Authentic Music Performance.
Kwok’s future concert commitment includes Dvorak Cello Concerto with the Greater North Texas Youth Orchestra, Haydn Concerto with Flower Mound Community Orchestra, and Carnegie Hall solo debut in the season of 2022-23.

HSUN CHEN, CELLO

Ms. Chen was born in Taiwan and began her musical studies at the age of four and continued studying until receiving her master’s degree. Recently, she just received the Performer’s Diploma in Cello Performance from the Meadows School of the Art at Southern Methodist University, where she studied with renowned soloist Andrés Díaz.

As an orchestra member in Taiwan, she has toured including Hong-Kong, Italy, and Israel. In addition, she has won several cello competitions and has been recognized for her achievements. In the past few years, Ms. Chen has appeared at the Josef Gingold Chamber Music Festival “Re-Imagined”, Round Top Festival Institute, National Orchestral Institute+ Festival, and Cremona International Music Academy in Italy. She’s passion for music has led to numerous solo and chamber music performance opportunities in masterclasses for Gary Hoffman, Thomas Landshoot, Uri Vardi, Jérôme Pinget, Paul Katz, Diotima String Quartet, Dover Quartet, Escher Quartet, and many others.

Ms. Chen is Suzuki Certified Teacher in Suzuki Cello Books 1 and 2. And she is currently building a studio in Dallas, Texas. Besides teaching, she has been a piano accompanist of Dallas Philharmonic Choir since 2018.

MEHRDAD GHOLAMI, PRINCIPAL FLUTE

Iranian flutist, Mehrdad Gholami, received presidential award and Iran’s National Elites Foundation scholarship to continue his training at the University of Tehran, where he studied with Dr. Azin Movahed.

During his time in Tehran, Mehrdad won numerous solo and chamber music competitions in Iran such as Fadjr International Music Festival, Iran Young Artists Competition, and Tehran Flute Competition. In the U.S., He has won concerto competitions as well as being a finalist in Texas Flute Society’s Myrna Brown Young Artist Competition.

As an orchestral player, he started with Tehran’s ensembles such as Tehran Contemporary Ensemble, Tehran City Hall Orchestra and Tehran Symphony. Later, he came back to work with TSO as their principal flute player under the direction of Maestro Alexander Rahbari for the 2015’s summer season. Other orchestral appearances include Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra (Los Angeles, Disney Hall debut), Fort Worth symphony and McKinney Philharmonic.

A recipient of Susan and Ford Schumann fellowship in 2017, Mehrdad attended Aspen Music Festival, where he served as Aspen Contemporary Ensemble (ACE) flute fellow and studied with Nadine Asin, Mark Sparks and Demarre McGill for three consecutive summers (2017-19). In August 2019, Mehrdad made his solo debut with Aspen Contemporary Ensemble performing Judith Shatin’s Concerto for Flute and Orchestra (Ruah). Other fellowships include Atlantic Music Festival’s contemporary ensemble fellowship served on Summer 2021.

At an early age, Mehrdad started working with composers and devoted his time to commission, premiere and record new sounds for flute with various ensembles. These collaborations with Iranian composers led to the creation of more than hundreds of new pieces for flute with different ensembles and media. His first solo album was published by his alma mater, University of Tehran, in a joint project with Iran Flute Society. He has appeared in recordings in various genres ranging from contemporary classical music to world music and pop music. Mehrdad’s efforts in presenting, performing and publishing new Iranian music has led to a growth of compositions for flute by Iranian composers and similar projects inspired by his “Iran Flute Project”. His most recent CD was published by Mahoor Publication inside Iran and it is available on all online platforms.

A sought-after pedagogue, Mehrdad has served as an adjudicator on panels for National Flute Association, Texas Flute Society and Texas Music Educators Associations. He has offered masterclasses and workshops on various topics from beginner pedagogy to contemporary techniques across the United States. On high demand as a teacher, Mehrdad’s students have won national awards in addition to students having qualified for the exclusive TMEA all-state band every year.

Mehrdad’s Doctoral dissertation was on the subject of “Iranian contemporary music for flute” where he included an expansive chapter on the history of Western music in Iran. As an advocate of his “Iran Flute Project”, Mehrdad has premiered works by Iranian composers at the National Flute Association and Mid-Atlantic Conventions. He received his MM and DMA in flute performance under the guidance of Dr. Shauna Thompson at Texas Christian University.

Mehrdad has had the opportunity to perform in masterclasses or work with artists such as Nadine Asin, Mark Sparks, Marina Piccinini, Erik Gratton, Lisa Garner Santa, Ransom Wilson, Aralee Dorough, Demarre McGill, Bart Feller, Jim Walker, Alexa Still and Jake Fridkis.

Currently, Mehrdad is based in DFW Metroplex, where he is serving as Adjunct Professor of Flute at Texas A&M - Commerce University and runs his private studio in addition to freelancing with local ensembles and orchestras. In addition to performing and teaching, he enjoys spending time as an audio engineer and the founder of www.canopystudio.net serving his fellow musicians.

KRISTIN PERRY, PRINCIPAL OBOE

Kristin Perry is an oboist originally from Avon, Indiana, who currently lives in Fort Worth. She received her Master’s degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of Jeff Rathbun and her Bachelor’s degree from Indiana University, studying with Roger Roe and Linda Strommen. Kristin also studied with Daniel Stolper at the Interlochen Arts Academy.
Kristin is currently the principal oboist of both the Las Colinas Symphony and the McKinney Philharmonic Orchestras, where she has played since 2017. Before moving to Texas, she was an oboist and Fellow with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Kristin frequently performs as a substitute musician with the Fort Worth Symphony, and is an active freelancer across the DFW metroplex. She has performed with several other orchestras, including the Cleveland Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Shreveport Symphony, Dallas Chamber Symphony, Richardson Symphony, Orchestra Iowa, Mansfield Symphony Orchestra, Firelands Symphony Orchestra, City Music Cleveland, Opera Western Reserve, Cleveland Opera Theater, Erie Chamber Orchestra, Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, Warren Philharmonic, Oistrakh Symphony, and the New Philharmonic of Irving. Kristin has attended numerous summer festivals including the Tanglewood Music Center, Brevard Music Center, Kent/Blossom Music Festival, Domaine Forget, and the
Interlochen Arts Camp.
She has been teaching private oboe lessons for over a decade, and has experience teaching in group and classroom settings as well.
Before learning the oboe, Kristin began taking piano lessons at the age of four. In grade school, she briefly studied the harp and flute before finally discovering her true passion for the oboe.

EVGENI KARELIN, PRINCIPAL CLARINET

Evgeni Karelin is a Russian-Israeli Clarinetist currently living in Fort-Worth TX. Evgeni received Graduate degrees from Jerusalem academy of music and is currently working on his post graduate degree in TCU.
Evgeni Performed in many prestigious concert halls in Israel, Germany, Netherlands, and USA with Orchestras as Jerusalem Symphony, Wiemar symphony and the Israeli Opera
Evgeni has appeared as a soloist with Ashdod Symphony Orchestra, Jerusalem Academy Symphony Orchestra and Ministry of education youth orchestra.
Evgeni participated in several prestigious music festivals including the Penderecki music festival, Weimar festival, Miami music festival, Duxbury and Crested Butte music festival.
He performed under button of outstanding conductors as Michael Sanderling, Caren Levine, Frederic Chaslin, Bradley Moore, David Effron and many more. Evgeni is currently principal clarinetist of Odysseus Chamber Orchestra and is a dedicated clarinet teacher.

MARK JANSEN, PRINCIPAL HORN and DIRECTOR OF BRASS AND WOODWIND with the GREATER NORTH TEXAS YOUTH ORCHESTRA

Mark Jansen is a native of Georgetown Texas with strong ties to DFW. After attending Interlochen Arts Academy, he received his education at the Chicago College of Performing Arts as a student of Dale Clevenger. His primary teachers also include William VerMeulen, David Cooper, Alice Clevenger, Pat Hughes, and H Stephen Hager. From 2011-2015 Mr. Jansen joined Austin indie rockers Wild Child, touring the US and performing at festivals such as ACL, Bonnaroo, SXSW, ACL Live at Moody Theater, and many more. Mr. Jansen is an Atkinson performing artist playing exclusively on Atkinson Horns. He is the founder and artistic director of North Texas Brass Week; north Texas’s premier brass training camp.

WILL PRATT, PRINCIPAL TRUMPET

A native of Columbus, GA, Will Pratt is an active performer and instructor in the DFW area. In addition to playing principal trumpet with the McKinney Philharmonic, Will plays principal trumpet with the Sherman Symphony and second trumpet with the Abilene Philharmonic. Will has also performed with The Dallas Opera, Louisiana Philharmonic, Wichita Falls Symphony, Las Colinas Symphony, and Richardson Symphony Orchestras. Will is the Adjunct Instructor of Trumpet at Tarrant County College in Arlington, TX, and Austin College in Sherman, TX. Most recently, he served on the faculty for the inaugural North Texas Brass Week in Frisco, TX. Will maintains a large studio of middle and high school students in Frisco and Coppell Independent School Districts. His students have earned placements in the Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas all-state bands, and have been recognized as semi-finalists and quarter-finalists of the National Trumpet Competition solo divisions. Will holds a Bachelor of Music from Columbus State University, a Master of Music from Southeastern Louisiana University, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of North Texas. His hobbies include long-distance running and watching the Atlanta Braves.