April 26th SZALON!

1.   Jeysla Rosario Santos (soprano) and XingXing Yao (guitarist) perform Puerto Rican art songs by Ernesto Cordero, exploring nostalgia, memory, and the emotional landscape of leaving one’s homeland

2.   The Auger Contemporary Ensemble (Julie Zheng, violin; Isaiah Rose, viola; Aldo Friedman, cello; Nathan Prasetyo, piano) perform Turn of Events by Roberto Pace

3.   Carl Patrick Bolleia performs Berceuse, Novelette, and Etude: Spinning Song from Museum Pieces (1975) composed for solo piano by Andrew Rudin

4.   Shannon Coulter (soprano), Diane Monroe (violin) and Andrea Clearfield (piano) perform “Song of Remembrance”, by Guy Klusevsek, in memory of Guy Klusevsek

5.   Pianist Tom Lawton performs an original piece “Endgame”, a movement from his Man Ray Suite, with bassist Eli Pace

6.   Violist Sheila Browne and pianist Julie Nishimura perform Sonata for Viola and Piano, 1. Calmly 2. Declamatory, by Jennifer Higdon

7.   Flutist Lindsey Goodman and pianist Clare Longendyke perform movements from Amy Williams' First Lines, evocative miniatures inspired by poetry utilizing colorful extended techniques

8.   In honor of Gregor Piatigorsky's 122nd birthday on April 17, 1904, cellist Jeffrey Solowand pianist Elise Auerbach perform Piatigorsky's concert version of Luigi Boccherini's Sonata in C major

9.   Raena Shirali (poet) and Natie Barret-Mas (electric violin) perform two of Raena's poems--"Duolingo" and "Cloaked In Grief I Am Perfect" set to music by Natie

10.        Drag artist/tenor Cookie Diorio and pianist/composer Andrea Clearfield perform excerpts from their collaborative work Long Live the Queen (a her-story of drag)

Jeysla Rosario Santos and XingXing Yao

Jeysla Rosario Santos is a Puerto Rican soprano currently pursuing her Master of Music in Opera Performance at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studies with Julia Faulkner and Amanda Majeski. She made her Curtis Opera Theatre debut in the fall 2024 as Poppea in the East Coast premiere of The Comet / Poppea. In the summer 2025, Jeysla was a Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Studio Artist at Central City Opera, where she performed scenes as Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Clorinda (La Cenerentola), and Almirena (Rinaldo). Recent and upcoming engagements include Tytania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Curtis Opera Theatre, and Frasquita in Carmen as well as Persephone (cover) in Lalovavi with Cincinnati Opera in the summer 2026. She is the recipient of an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition (Pittsburgh District), 2nd prize in the inaugural Koran Art Song Competition, and First Place in the Miami University Undergraduate Artist Competition. Jeysla holds dual bachelor’s degrees in Vocal Performance and Arts Management from Miami University. 

Xingxing Yao is a 20-year-old guitarist from Hangzhou, China. Xingxing began studying guitar at age three with Li Le and Andres Hsieh. She entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 2020, where she studies with David Starobin and Jason Vieaux, and is the Emilio Gravagno Fellow. Xingxing has won multiple awards across Asia, including 2nd prize in the Taiwan International Guitar Festival and 2nd prize in East End International Guitar Competition in Japan. At age 11, Xingxing was invited as the guest performer in world renowned guitarist Alvaro Pierri’s concert at the Joy of Music Festival in Hong Kong. This summer she attended and performed as a fellow at the Aspen Music Festival. In addition to standard classical guitar repertoire, Xingxing is an active performer of new music, including recent performances of compositions by Tania León, Mel Powell, Paul Lansky, Mario Davidovsky, and Stephen Jaffe.

Audience Support & Social Links
XingXing Yao Instagram: @xingxingyao05
Jeysla Rosario Santos Instagram: @jeyslars

Donation Links
Venmo – XingXing Yao: https://venmo.com/xingxing-yao
Venmo – Jeysla Rosario Santos: https://venmo.com/jeyslars

The Auger Contemporary Ensemble

The Auger Contemporary Ensemble: Julie Zheng, violin; Isaiah Rose, viola; Aldo Friedman, cello; Nathan Prasetyo, piano

The Auger Contemporary Ensemble is an advanced studies scholarship ensemble at the Settlement Music School endowed by Ben and Carol Auger. The group is coached by Tom Kraines, and their repertoire consists exclusively of music composed in the 21st century. They will perform Turn of Events by Roberto Pace

Carl Patrick Bolleia and Andrew Rudin

With performances and recordings reviewed, featured, and previewed by various press including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Gramophone, New York Classical Review, American Record Guide, Fanfare and more, Carl Patrick Bolleia has performed as pianist, organist, harpsichordist, and conductor throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East, North America and the Caribbean at venues including Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium and Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Philharmonie de Paris, Merkin Hall, NJPAC, Bargemusic, le poisson rouge, Spectrum, and more. Hailed in Forbes as a “world-class pianist”, his playing has been regarded by New York Classical Review as a “balance of precision and power…impressive in both technique and commitment to what the music tries to say…” He is dedicated to the music of our time, have given premieres of hundreds of compositions and collaborated with composers of the 20th & 21st Century, including Frederic Rzewski, Tyshawn Sorey, Reena Esmail, Charles Wuorinen, Robert Aldridge, Stephen Hough and countless more. He holds graduate degrees from The Juilliard School, Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, and The City University of New York. Dr. Bolleia is Assistant Professor of Music, Coordinator of Piano and New Music at William Paterson University and the Director of Sacred Music at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Boonton.

Socials

Instagram: @carlpatrickbolleia 
Web: carlpatrickbolleia.com
Facebook: facebook.com/carl.p.bolleia
Email: bolleiac1@gmail.com
Venmo: @carlpatrickb
Paypal: @CPB1210

Andrew Rudin is a Texas-born composer of Swedish ancestry, given a Music Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters in 2018. His “Il Giuoco”(1966) was the first large-scale work for Moog Synthesizer. His synthesized music is heard in the sound-track of the film “Fellini: Satyricon” and his “Tragoedia”on Nonesuch Records was described by critic Alfred Frankenstein as “The best large-scale electronic work I have ever heard..” He has composed ballets for the Pennsylvania Ballet, Murray Louis, Dance Theatre Workshop, Louis Falco, Jeff Duncan, London Contemporary Dance Theatre, four collaborations with Alwin Nikolais, and on Broadway, music for Tennessee Williams’ “Outcry”. His opera “The Innocent” was produced in Philadelphia by Tito Capobianco in 1972 . He has served on the faculties of the Juilliard School and The University of the Arts, where he taught until 2001.

https://www.andrewrudincomposer.com/

A large selection of Andrew’s works can be heard and downloaded at:
https://www.reverbnation.com/andrewrudin

Videos:

Shannon Coulter, Diane Monroe, and Andrea Clearfield

Shannon Coulter has performed as a soprano soloist and chorister for nearly four decades. Currently, she can be heard singing in choirs at Christ Church Philadelphia, with Singing City and the Temple University Singing Owls, and at the High Holy Days at Rodeph Shalom on Broad Street in Philadelphia. Shannon has performed operatic roles including Susanna in the Marriage of Figaro and premiered works by current composers like Andrea Clearfield’s Women of Valor (East Coast premiere) and Rollo Dilworth’s “Weather.” She is currently finishing a degree in Respiratory Therapy and looks forward to working in healthcare in the new year. 

Native Philadelphian Diane Monroe, is an accomplished classical violinist/chamber artist, jazz improviser, and composer. Her jazz memberships include Max Roach Double Quartet, Uptown String Quartet, String Trio of New York, with recordings on the Philips, Black Saint, and Koch and Innova records. As a classical artist she has performed solo and chamber works in Carnegie Hall, Switzerland’s Tonhalle, the Kennedy Center, and at the summer music festivals of Marlboro, Sitka, and Caramoor. Her most recent solo appearances have been with Jon Faddis’ Big Band, and the Cincinnati Pops Symphony Orchestra. Monroe is a 2018 recipient of the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage Fellowship award and Project Grant. Other awards include, the Philadelphia Clef Club’s Jazz Legacy Award, the Pro Musicis Recital Award, the Pesky Residency Award, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Musical Fund Society of Phila. Her composition “Vibes” & orchestration of Mr Roger’s’ “You Are Special” appears on the Sony Classical Soundtrack for the film, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”. Other films include “Music of the Heart”, starring Meryl Streep. Ms Monroe has taught classical violin and coached chamber music as Assistant Professor at Oberlin Conservatory, and as a faculty member at Swarthmore, Temple U., Lehigh U, Ursinus College, Settlement Music School, and The Castleman Quartet Program. She was a masters student at Michigan State U., and holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and the Philadelphia Musical Academy. 

Andrea Clearfield is an award-winning composer who has written more than 175 works for orchestra, opera, chorus, chamber ensemble, dance and multimedia collaborations. Clearfield creates deep, emotive musical languages that build cultural and artistic bridges. She has been praised by The New York Times for her “graceful tracery and lively, rhythmically vital writing,” the Philadelphia Inquirer for her “mastery with large choral and instrumental forces,” the Los Angeles Times for her “fluid and glistening orchestration,” and by Opera News for her “vivid and galvanizing” music of “timeless beauty.” Clearfield’s music is performed widely in the U.S. and abroad. Among her works are seventeen cantatas including one commissioned and premiered by The Philadelphia Orchestra in collaboration with storyteller Charlotte Blake Alston. Dr. Clearfield was awarded a Pew International Residency Award, a Pew Fellowship in the Arts, two Independence Foundation Fellowships, two Rockefeller Bellagio Center Fellowships and fellowships from the American Academy in Rome, Yaddo, MacDowell and Copland House among others. As a pianist, she performed in the Relâche Ensemble for 25 years. Founder, curator and host of the Salon since 1986, she believes in the power of music and arts to connect us all. She is represented by Black Tea Music. More at www.andreaclearfield.com

Links:
https://www.dianemonroemusic.com/
https://www.pewcenterarts.org/fellow/diane-monroe

Videos:

Tom Lawton and Eli Pace

Tom Lawton is a Philadelphia-based pianist and composer, trained in classical and jazz who believes in improvisation as a way of life, playing in ensembles of all sizes as well as solo. He has played countless concerts, appeared on numerous recordings and has collaborated with many jazz luminaries.

Recordings: Retrospective/Debut. (Dreambox Media, a now defunct label)

Soundpath (Clean Feed Records) with Bobby Zankel's Warriors performing Muhal Richard Abram's pieced Soundpath

Recordings:
Le Tournant from Man Ray Suite by Tom Lawton
If I Should Lose You - Tom Lawton Trio

Eli Pace began his professional career as a freelance bass player at the age of 15 in Columbus, Ohio. Thanks to the mentorship of International Blues Challenge winner Sean Carney, Eli began is career playing both electric and upright bass at numerous local stages and festivals. Eli began his collegiate studies in classical double bass at Ithaca College, but concluded after a year to tour with Cincinnati-based guitarist and vocalist Erin Coburn in 2022. After the 16-show tour with a performance at the Chicago Blues Festival, Eli finished his undergraduate degree at Temple University where he studied with jazz bassists Vicente Archer and David Wong. Since his arrival in Philadelphia, Eli has maintained a busy schedule as both a sideman and bandleader, performing at numerous venues such as Chris’Jazz Café, Solar Myth, World Café Live, and Cellar Dog Philadelphia. Eli’s current projects include leading his quintet, “Mashing Clay” and writing and arranging for the Olivia Perrin Quartet. 

Instagram: @paceeli

Videos:

Julie Nishimura and Sheila Browne

Pianist Julie Nishimura was the University of Delaware School of Music’s Faculty Accompanist for 31 years, having performed over 600 recitals, chamber music concerts and opera performances, and, in addition, had taught the Accompanying Classes. During that time, she was also a Staff Collaborative Artist for Philadelphia’s Strings International Music Festival, now Philadelphia International Music Festival, and, for 20 years, San Francisco-based California Summer Music. For over 20 years she has been Artistic Director for Wilmington, Delaware’s non-profit, Distant Voices Touring Theatre, which she started with her late husband Danny Peak, performing a theatrical show underscored with piano music about her father’s time in the WWII Japanese American Concentration Camps. Since retirement, she has stayed active as a freelance collaborative artist, enjoying a variety of projects, including work as a rehearsal pianist for Berkeley’s West Edge Opera and Wilmington’s Opera Delaware; guest artist for the Gold Coast Chamber Players and The Allegheny Ensemble; Faculty Pianist at Ohio’s Encore Chamber Music Institute since 2022; one of the pianists for CoroAllegro, Delaware's Chamber Choir; and pianist for University of Delaware's Theatre and Dance Department's Musical Theatre class on Foundations of Singing Acting. She can often be seen jumping in at the last minute for rehearsals and recitals! Julie has enjoyed recording projects with friends Denise Tryon, horn; Christopher Nichols, clarinet; Sheila Browne, viola; and can be heard on the Bridge, Albany, and Navona labels. Currently, she divides her time between the San Francisco Bay Area, playing in The Class Act Big Band, Classical Revolution SF, and in coffee shops as “Classical Lites with Jewels”, and the East Coast.

Violist Sheila Browne is from Philadelphia and also holds Irish citizenship. Known as a versatile and dynamic performer with a unique viola voice, she enjoys an international career of solo and chamber collaborations and concerto appearances. She has performed in major venues on six continents, including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Concertgebouw, Royal Festival Hall, Teatro Colon and the National Center for Performing Arts in Beijing. She has recorded for the Sony, Nonesuch, Bridge, Albany and MSR lables, premiered several concerti written for her and has worked closely with many living composers on their music. Ms. Browne is also a dedicated teacher who believes in a holistic approach and has given viola and chamber music masterclasses at most major music schools in the U.S. She was the Teaching Assistant of famed pedagoge Karen Tuttle at Juilliard while receiving her bachelor’s degree. She also received a Master of Music at Rice University. Browne was honored to be chosen as the inaugural viola faculty at the Tianjin Juilliard School and Tianjin Juilliard Ensemble, performing and giving masterclasses in 16 countries on four continents. She joins the Viola Faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music in Fall, 2026.

Links:
www.violasheilabrowne.com
YouTube
Grammy nominated CD, Leaps and Bounds
Professor of Viola, Cleveland Institute of Music (Fall 2026)
Faculty, Manhattan School of Music, Pre College
Director, Karen Tuttle International Viola Workshop

Videos:

Linsey Goodman and Clare Longendyke

Flutist Lindsey Goodman “is nothing short of mesmerizing. Each note is infused with emotion”. (The Flute View) A charismatic soloist, recording artist, chamber collaborator, orchestral musician, educator, and clinician, she made her sold-out Carnegie Hall debut in Weill Recital Hall to three curtain calls and a standing ovation. Hailed as “a flutist who has it all” (The Whole Note), Lindsey serves as principal flutist of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, instructor of flute at Otterbein University and Glenville State University, artist faculty at the Mostly Modern Festival, and solo flutist of the new music ensemble What Is Noise. She is a founding member of flute quartet PANdemonium4, the flute and harp Apollo Duo, and Chrysalis, a singing flutist and pianist duo showcasing her training as a classical mezzo-soprano. 

www.LindseyGoodman.com
Special Salon "mix and match" CD promotion: 
2 albums (SALE2FOR35) for $35 or 3 albums (SALE3FOR50) for $50 from the online shop!

Pianist Clare Longendyke is a soloist, chamber musician, and fearless advocate for new music. Her performances are marked by imaginative programming, charismatic stage presence, and a gift for weaving together contemporary works and classical favorites. In 2024, Clare released her debut solo album, …of dreams unveiled, featuring music by Claude Debussy, Amy Williams, and Anthony R. Green. The album reached #2 on the Billboard Traditional Classical chart and was praised as “a work of remarkable pianistic invention” (The WholeNote). A passionate collaborator with living composers, Clare has commissioned more than 30 new works and premiered over 250 pieces in the past decade. Her programs often pair works from the standard repertoire with today’s most compelling musical voices, creating concerts that speak to the depth and vitality of the classical tradition. Highlights of Clare’s current season include appearances with Symphony New Hampshire, the South Bend Symphony, and the Danville Symphony of Illinois. In 2025, at five months pregnant, she made her Carnegie Hall debut to a sold-out audience in Weill Hall—the experience of a lifetime. Whether from the stage or in conversation, Clare invites audiences into the heart of her artistry—one that builds bridges between tradition and transformation and brings the concert experience vividly to life.

Links:

Website: https://clarelongendyke.com/
Instagram: @clarelongendyke.piano
Support Clare: https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/clare-longendyke-pianist

Videos:

Jeffrey Solow and Elise Auerbach

Cellist Jeffrey Solow’s compelling playing has enthralled audiences throughout North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia as soloist, chamber musician and teacher. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he earned a degree in Philosophy magna cum laude from UCLA while studying with and assisting the legendary Gregor Piatigorsky at USC. He has performed more than 40 different solo works with orchestras worldwide and he has been guest artist at many national and international festivals. Among his numerous recordings (for Columbia, New World, ABC, Centaur, Delos, Capstone, Kleos, Desmar, Orion, Laurel, Everest, and Telefunken) two received Grammy Award nominations. Jeffrey has been professor of cello at Temple University since 1989 and received the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2020.

www.jeffreysolow.com
https://www.facebook.com/jeffrey.solow

Elise Auerbach's wide-ranging interests and expertise span the spectrum of the collaborative pianist. She has appeared with singers and instrumentalists in such venues as Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Alys Stevens Performing Arts Center, and the Kimmel Center. Other performance highlights include orchestral appearances with the Delaware and Temple University Symphonies, live broadcasts on Cincinnati Public Radio WGUC, premieres of new works for keyboard, and numerous recitals throughout the region. Elise has participated and performed at festivals and programs in Japan, Canada, Italy, and the United States, and toured twice in Germany as part of the Ribbeck-Auerbach violin & piano duo. In addition, Elise has served as music director for local opera companies, staff pianist for the ROW summer program, and orchestral pianist with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. A devoted chamber musician, she is a founding member of Philalea, a Philadelphia-based chamber ensemble. Currently, Elise is a vocal coach at Temple University and staff pianist at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. She holds degrees from Temple University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and studies the Taubman Approach with Robert Durso.

Videos: 

Raena Shirali and Natie

Raena Shirali is the author of two collections of poetry. Her first book, GILT, was released by YesYes Books in 2017 and won the 2018 Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award. Published by Black Lawrence Press in October 2022, her second book, summonings,won the 2021 Hudson Prize. Winner of a Pushcart Prize, Shirali is also the recipient of prizes and honors from VIDA, Gulf Coast, Boston Review, & Cosmonauts Avenue. She has held residencies at Yaddo, Sundress Academy for the Arts, Portland Community College’s Carolyn Moore Writers House, Escribe Aquí, and Bucknell University. Her poems and essays have appeared in American Poetry Review, Academy of American Poets’ Poem-A Day, The Nation, The Rumpus, carte blanche, & elsewhere. She co-organized the We (Too) Are Philly festival in 2018, as well as Holy Family University’s Distinguished Writers Series from 2019 to 2024. Formerly Co-Editor-in-Chief of Muzzle Magazine and a Faculty Advisor for Folio, Shirali now serves as a Contributing Editor for swamp pink.  She holds an MFA in Poetry from The Ohio State University and lives in Philadelphia.

Links:

Raena's Website: https://www.raenashirali.com/ 
Buy summonings: https://blacklawrencepress.com/books/summonings/
Buy GILT: https://www.yesyesbooks.com/product-page/gilt
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raenashirali/
Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/raena-shirali

Natie is a creole musician/singer-songwriter from Reunion island, based in New York City. After a world tour in Beyoncé & Jay-Z's band in 2018, Natie launched her solo career with the release of her music video "Identity" & her debut EP "In the Key Of Fall". Through her music, Natie aims to share the experience of being creole (mixed race) and uprooted, with authenticity and grounding, in the hope to foster more openness and belonging. With these values in mind, the artist has launched her own festival in 2024, Kréol Fest, an artistic celebration of creole culture from around the world. Her multilingual/soothing EP “Home: a place within aux parfums d’ailleurs” also came out that year with a stunning cinematic music video shot in both her homes untitled ‘Ter La’. Recent performances include Global Fest with the Ragini Ensemble, Summerstage with Ganavya, and a solo performance for 100 Years 100 Women at Lincoln Center. She recently performed in her home island for the 20th anniversary of the festival Sakifo, and will be featured at Le Concert de la Francophonie this March in New York.

Links:

Instagram
Spotify
Youtube

Videos:

Cookie Diorio and Andrea Clearfield

Cookie Diorio is a Philadelphia-based drag performer, a classically trained vocalist, a songwriter, an activist, a husband, mother of the House of Diorio, a music teacher and lover of all things sparkly. She mastered walking in 5 inch stilettos in the night clubs of Boston, achieved her hair fantasy by studying vintage videos of Grace Bumbry and founded the giving project Art of the Heel. Cookie grew up in historic Auburn, NY with gospel in her ears, civil rights in her blood and a song in her heart. She trained at Ithaca College in the voice studio of Angus Godwin and learned the many different skills of western classical music from master teachers such as Carol McAmis in vocal pedagogy, Lawrence Doebler in choral arts, Dana Wilson in composition and Patrick Hansen in opera coaching. She has produced many solo shows including the off-broadway production Fire In My Bones: A Gospel Jubilee (Kraine Theater, NYC), given a TEDx talk at Rosetree, had a musical takeover at The Barnes Foundation, is a 15 year company member at Opera Philadelphia, premiered the role "Oracle" in Andrea Clearfield's Beyond the Binary, and is an ASSociate Artist of the Bearded Ladies Cabaret. Cookie is also a staple in the Philadelphia drag performance scene and community. She played “Guy” in The Lantern’s production of Blues for an Alabama Sky by Pearl Cleage in Feb/March 2026. 

Website: www.cookiediorio.com
All Social Handles: @cookidiorio