September 28th, 39-Year Anniversary SZALON!

1. Musical Ambassador of Peace Ari Honarvar performs an original flash-fiction piece and a Rumi poem in Farsi and English, from her studio in San Diego.

2. Pianist Aavi Sircar performs Frederick Chopin’s posthumously published Waltz in E minor and Chinese-American composer Tan Dun’s ‘Sunrain’ from his Eight Memories in Watercolor, from the Szalon

3. Ensemble Verba (Brian Dolphin, Asia Mieleszko, Max Temnogorod) performs traditional Ukrainian vocal polyphony, from the Szalon

4. Soprano Jessica Beebe performs songs by Romeo Cascarino from his cycle Pathways of Love, from the Szalon

5. Hun Hazy, a Mongolian fusion duo featuring Tamir Hargana and Naizal Hargana, performs music on traditional instruments, creating a dynamic fusion of ancient Mongolian soundscapes and modern musical elements, from the Szalon

6. The Marian Anderson Vocal Ensemble performs 2 selections specially arranged by their musical director,Jay Fluellen, from the Szalon

7. The Tiger Lily Trio (Eileen Grycky, flute; Christopher Nichols, clarinet; and Christine Delbeau, piano) will perform Cynthia Folio’s Western Winds, Eastern Roots, from the Szalon

8. Noëlle Streuber-Eden (violin) and Maria Dell'Orefice (piano) perform Pablo Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy, which transforms themes from Bizet's opera into a vivid emotional journey through the virtuosic violin, from the Szalon

9. Swing That Cat, blends the sounds of Swing, Jump Blues, and Latin into a sonic cocktail, led by Michele Peraino and backed by crazy cats with horns, guitar, bass and drums, from the Szalon

10. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Bet Williams performs songs from her upcoming album, Magic Beauty Pain, from the Szalon

11. The E & J Dynamic Duo (pianist Julian Hartwell and vocalist, Elijah B. Pringle) perform a medley of Eden Abhez's "Nature Boy" w/ Stevie Wonder's "If It's Magic," and "When October Goes" by Johnny Mercer/arr. by Manilow, from the Szalon

Ari Honarvar

Ari Honarvar is the founder of Rumi with a View, an initiative dedicated to bridging the arts, social justice, and wellbeing. As a Musical Ambassador of Peace, she dances with refugees on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. She is the author of the critically acclaimed novel  A Girl Called Rumi and the bestselling oracle deck, Rumi’s Gift.

https://rumiwithaview.com/

@rumiwithaview on IG

Donations can go to MAP: https://musicalambassadorsofpeace.org/get-involved/

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Aavi Sircar

Aavi Sircar is a seventh grader at Great Valley Middle School in Malvern, Pennsylvania and takes piano lessons from Mr. James Anemone. He began piano lessons at age 8 and has since performed at major concert venues nationally and internationally. He has been featured as a young virtuoso on Steinert & Sons Steinway Stories series and as a guest artist at music salons hosted by Philadelphia-based conductor Karl Middleman and composer Andrea Clearfield. Aavi has played at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Academy of Music Ballroom in Philadelphia, Field Concert Hall at Curtis Institute of Music, Sala dei Notari in Perugia, Italy, GC de Lijsterbes in Brussels and the Van Cliburn Concert Hall in Fort Worth. As a winner of the 2025 London International Chopin Competition, Aavi has performed at the Polish Hearth Club in London (Ognisko Polskie). Aavi made his orchestral debut at Perugia, Italy with the Europa Musica Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Marius Stravinsky in 2023. Having won the Ambler Symphony Orchestra Scholarship and the Young Artist Concerto Competition, Aavi has performed as a soloist with the Ambler Orchestra and the Old York Road Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Jack Moore in 2025. He attended the highly selective Piano Texas International Festival and Academy as a junior performer in 2024, and in 2025, will attend the Oberlin Summer Piano Festival, the Cleveland Institute of Music Young Artist Piano Seminar and the Southeastern Piano Festival. Apart from piano, Aavi enjoys chess and coding computer games in C#, Lua, Java Script and Unity. He has been actively training in martial arts since he was 5 years old.

YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@aavisircar?si=Wwgjlw6jGSeHDzQ7

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Ensemble Verba

Ensemble Verba is a Philadelphia-based singing trio rooted in the polyphonic vocal traditions of Ukraine’s villages. Composed of former members of the NYC-based Ukrainian Village Voices, Ensemble Verba engages with folklore as a living tradition and performance as a conversation between old and new, authenticity and instinct, individual and community. We like to blend our voices into the beautiful, shrill, and plaintive Ukrainian folk harmonies designed to pierce skies and hearts alike.

Brian Dolphin is a Thomas J. Watson Fellow, Fulbright recipient, and doctoral student of Ethnomusicology at the CUNY Graduate Center. He has studied under and performed with master singers from all over Ukraine, including singers from Drevo, Rozhanytsia, and Ladovytsi. Brian has also done ethnography and performed at various festivals throughout Ukraine. He is co-founder of Ukrainian Village Voices in New York City and under his musical direction, UVV has performed at the Brooklyn Folk Festival, the Zlatne Uste Golden Festival, and the Saint George Ukrainian Festival; UVV has also paraded around the East Village every year in order to bless the local community with traditional carols. Brian's approach to singing this music is one that is both inclusive and fun, and also always striving for excellence, "authenticity", understanding, and a depth of feeling. He is always looking forward to singing with people and making the music sparkle.

Joanna (Asia) Mieleszko is a singer, conductor, protector of the (very) old, and pioneer of the daringly new. Recent performance highlights include presenting programs of Ukrainian folk music at the 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, a 2023 residency at the Chase Hill Artist Retreat, inaugurating Es Devlin’s Kinetic Sculpture at Lincoln Center, serving as a vocal fellow at the Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice, and premieres at Symphony Space, Princeton SoundKitchen, the Estonian House, and the Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival. Asia is also the current musical director of the NYC-based Ukrainian Village Voices (UVV) as well as the acting artistic director and principal vocalist of AEON Ensemble, ushering in twelve world premieres and fifteen synesthetic collaborations since the latter’s revival at the 2019 Queens New Music Festival. Through her work with UVV, she’s led dozens of workshops on Ukrainian village polyphony and spent part of 2018 traveling from village to village, engaging with these traditions first-hand. Outside of her musical endeavors, she works as a journalist and dabbles in photography.

When Kyiv-born, Brooklyn-raised Maksim (Max) Temnogorod isn’t coding, he’s likely making music. As a former member of Ukrainian Village Voices, Max was one of four singers to have participated in the 2021 Koliadky Reimagined project, a genre-bending collaboration threading Ukrainian village polyphony and contemporary composition sponsored by Razom for Ukraine. He spent part of this past summer workshopping an immersive performance of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors in North Adams, Massachusetts as part of the Chase Hill Artist Residency and Floating Tower Theatre and otherwise regularly performs with his band, Medukha. Outside of making music, Max is a software engineer and a member of Philadelphia Woodworks, where he makes all sorts of beautiful things out of recycled wood.

Instagram: @ensemble.verba
Venmo: Max Temnogorod (@mdarkcity)

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Jessica Beebe

Lauded as having a “honey-colored tone” and “the most radiant solo singing” from Opera News, GRAMMY nominated soprano Jessica Beebe is an affecting interpreter of repertoire from the Renaissance to contemporary American opera. As a sought-after concert soloist, Ms. Beebe has performed as a soloist with several major orchestras and ensembles across the worldincluding The New York Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, The English Concert at Carnegie Hall and The Barbican Theatre in London, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, The Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, The Folger Consort in D.C., The Washington Bach Consort, PiffaroRenaissance Band, Gamut Bach Ensemble, Philadelphia Bach Collegium and more. Her solo operatic highlights include premiering multiple operas by Jennifer Higdon, Lembit Beecher and David Hertzberg with Opera Philadelphia, covering in Bergen National Opera in Norway, and a Los Angeles Philharmonic debut in Meredith Monk’s opera, Atlas. Ms. Beebe is an avid choral singer, and a member of many professional ensembles across the country including Variant 6, Trio Eos, Lorelei Ensemble, and is on multiple GRAMMY nominated albums with The Crossing and Clarion Ensemble. Ms. Beebe currently resides in the Philadelphia suburb area and is on the voice faculty at both Franklin and Marshall and Muhlenberg Colleges. Ms. Beebe holds a bachelor’s degree in Choral Music Education from The University of Delaware, a Master of Music degree in Early Music Voice Performance from Indiana University, and a Performers Certificate from The London College of Music. For more information, please visit www.jessicabeebesoprano.com

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Hun Hazy

Hun Hazy is a Mongolian fusion duo formed by Tamir Hargana and Naizal Hargana. Known for their innovative blend of tradition and modernity, they combine the sounds of the Morin Khuur (horse-head fiddle) and Tovshuur (Mongolian lute) with Khoomei, the ancient art of throat singing. Their music creates a rich and textured sonic experience that bridges centuries-old Mongolian traditions with contemporary influences. Hun Hazy has performed at venues such as the Chicago Cultural Alliance and the Heritage Museum of Asia, offering audiences a captivating glimpse into Mongolia’s vibrant musical heritage.

Links:

Instagram: Tamir - @tamirhargana | Naizal - @naizal1
Website: tuvergenband.com

The Marian Anderson Historical Society, directed by Jay Fluellen

The Marian Anderson Historical Society is dedicated to uplifting the life and legacy of Marian Anderson. The society's CEO, Jillian Patricia Pirtle, is a phenomenal singer, in addition to being the caretaker of the Marian Anderson Residence Museum. The Marian Anderson Vocal Ensemble is a group made up of members of the Historical Society's Scholar and Apprentice program, under the musical direction of Jay Fluellen. Since October 2023, Fluellen has served as the musical director and has curated over 17 concert programs with a roster of 8 professional singers and 3 professional instrumentalists in venues across the city of Philadelphia, including; The Crystal Tea Room, Tindley Temple, The Church of the Four Chaplains, the Mary Louise Curtis Branch of the Settlement School of Music, among other locations.

https://marianandersonhistoricalsociety.weebly.com/

Tiger Lily Trio

Tiger Lily Trio is a faculty-ensemble-in residence at the University of Delaware School of Music. Its members include Eileen Grycky, flute; Christopher Nichols, clarinet; and Marie-Christine Delbeau, piano. Its performances of contemporary literature by living composers have garnered it invitations to appear throughout North America and Europe at National Flute Association Conventions (2021 and 2023), National Association of Collegiate Wind and Percussion Instructors Conference (2017), International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest (2023 and 2025), and the Victoria International Arts Festival in Gozo, Malta (2022). The trio is dedicated to the performance of music by marginalized composers and actively commissions new works for the medium. Recent commissions include trios by Jennifer Margaret Barker, Anthony O’Toole, Roger Zare, and Cynthia Folio.

 https://classical.music.apple.com/gb/album/1716911702

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Noëlle Streuber-Eden and Maria Dell’Orefice

16-year-old violinist Noëlle Streuber-Eden’s performances have been described as virtuosic, inspired, and musically mature beyond her years. After her solo debut with the Lakeside Artists in 2021, her musical journey has taken her to the stages of New York’s Carnegie Hall, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, Andrea Clearfield’s renowned Philadelphia Szalon, Harpa/ Iceland, and various locations in Germany. A transplant from the Greater Chicago area, Noëlle currently studies solo violin with Prof. Guillaume Combet in Philadelphia. She has worked in masterclasses, studios, and institutes with Almita Vamos, Ida Kavafian, Jennifer Koh, Desirée Ruhstrat, Sibbi Bernhardsson and Peter Zazofsky among others. Driven by her enthusiasm for collaborative music making, Noëlle has served as concertmaster, section leader, and soloist for the Youth Chamber Orchestra at Temple University’s Center for Gifted Young Musicians, the Lutheran Summer Music Festival Orchestra, the Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra, and the Chicago Youth Symphony’s Philharmonic and Concert Orchestras. Most recently, her musical talent has been recognized with the Bruce Montgomery Foundation for the Arts’ special Peter Benoliel & Willo Carey 2025 Springboard Grant and, for the third year in a row, the Advanced Study Scholarship for the Ann Newman Quartet at Philadelphia’s Settlement School. Noëlle has won several renowned competitions, including the 2025 National YoungArts Competition, the 2024 Alexander & Buono Foundation’s String Competition, the 2024 Lansdowne Symphony’s Irving Ludwig Competition, the 2023 Ninth Annual PYAO Young Artists Solo Competition, and the International Clara Schumann Competition, to name only a few. Passionate about music, neuroscience, and cats, she lives in a Philadelphia suburb with her family and Edgar, Maxim, and Jascha, her trusted furry companions.

Website: https://noelleviolin.art 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@noelleviolin

Maria Dell’Orefice, a classical pianist and avid violinist, has shared the stage with a multitude of performers including Chris Botti, Alexander Markov, and Francesca DePasquale. While Maria frequently presents solo and collaborative performances in the Philadelphia area, she has also performed solo piano in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and performed with multiple orchestras on the Marian Anderson Hall stage at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.Maria performed for a program in Italy in which she accompanied opera singers in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and she is musical director for the Delaware Valley Opera Company. Maria recently made her debut in the Walnut Street Theatre pit orchestra with their production of Elf the Musical. She is a recipient of the Association of Church Musicians of Philadelphia Organ Grant and is currently the organist at Our Lady of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church in Strafford, PA. Maria is the pianist for the Haverford College choirs, Staff Pianist Artist in Residence at Temple University and Staff Pianist at the University of Delaware.Maria has studied under Charles Abramovic, Lambert Orkis, Jane Abbott-Kirk, and Sheila Paige and is an advocate of the Taubman technique. She earned her B.M. in Piano Performance from Baylor University in Waco, TX and a double M.M. in Piano Performance and Collaborative Piano from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA.

Website: mariadellorefice.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mariadelloreficemusic/playlists
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariadelloreficemusic

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Swing That Cat

Swing That Cat is a Sonic Cocktail of Jump Jive and Wail ~  Jump Blues, swizzled with Swing, a dash of Cabaret and a splash of Bourbon Street. This female-led band backed by crazy cats that all howl, “Yo Philly” with horns, guitar, bass and drums, has earned their stripes at over 400 shows from NYC to DC and streams around the world. Blending a revival of styles, rhythm and rumble, this band guarantees to make you shimmy, shake, and leap off your seat to dance your tail off!   Find and Follow Us ~  @Swing That Cat

Links:
Find and Follow Us ~  @Swing That Cat
www.swingthatcat.band
Facebook
Instagram
Spotify
YouTube.com/@SwingThatCat

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Bet Williams

A long-time favorite on the singer/songwriter, Americana music scene, Bet Williams infatuates audiences with “superhuman reserves of energy” and creates huge soundscapes with her voice and acoustic guitar that reach beyond the boundaries of folk, blues, world music or rock. Using her vast world travels to fuel her writing, she gives voice to revolutions of the heart and mind. Bet has appeared on stages with artists such as Taj Mahal, Joan Osborne, Herbie Hancock, Arlo Guthrie and Lucinda Williams. “A blues-roots, new folk tone poet with a highly charismatic stage presence and an astonishing four octave range voice.” – New York Daily News

Links:

Bet Williams - Epiphany Records
Bet Williams - YouTube
youtube.com

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E&J Dynamic Duo

The E&J Dynamic Duo is comprised of Julian Hartwell on piano & Elijah B. Pringle on vocals. Both formidable artists in their own right, the two of them together offer a refreshing take on the intimate piano-vocal format that balances class with flair, poise with panache. Featuring a repertoire that includes choice jazz standards, R&B faves of yesteryear, and pop gems curated from the 70's and on, a drop in with this dynamic duo is definitely worth the visit.

We are still working on our own recordings/web presence as a duo, however, folks can support here:

www.julianhartwellmusic.com
https://soundcloud.com/julian-hartwell/sets/demo-w-elijah-pringle
Venmo.com/julian-hartwell-music
Buymeacoffee.com/julianhartwell 
$julianhartwell89 on CashApp

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