ARABESQUE WINDS - 2008 ICMEC Grand Prize Winner

The Arabesque Winds was formed at the Eastman School of Music in 2005. They were featured several times on the Honors Chamber Music Recital series at Eastman. As supporters of new music, they performed the United States premiere of Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez's "Twittering Variations" in Kilbourn Hall. They also frequently perform with Eastman's Ossia New Music ensemble and have premiered film scores written by local Rochester composers. As advocates of music education and outreach, the Arabesque Winds are avid participants in the Eastman School's "Music For All" program. They have given educational presentations and performances at the Rochester City Schools, the Harley School, Wolcott Street School, and local churches and libraries. Most recently, they were the ensemble-in-residence in the Lake Placid school district. The Arabesque Winds have been finalists in the Coleman Chamber Music Competition and semi-finalists in the Fischoff and Plowman Chamber Music Competitions. This September, they will be featured as the ensemble-in-residence at Festival Internacional, a contemporary music festival in Chihuahua, Mexico. They also have been selected to premiere a new woodwind quintet concerto by composer Baljinder Sekhon II, expected to be performed in the spring of 2009.

Deidre Huckabay, flute

Deidre Huckabay is in her fourth year at the Eastman School of Music, in the studio of Bonita Boyd. As general manager of the student-run New Eastman Outreach Orchestra, she coordinates educational and interactive orchestral programs in venues throughout Rochester. In December 2007, she and a group of Eastman students performed two contemporary operas at the Spazio Musica Festival in Cagliari, Italy, alongside noted singers and actors from Mexico and Italy. As part of the Eastman BroadBand, Deidre performed alongside the award-winning Garth Fagan Dance Company at the Joyce Theater in New York City, at Nazareth College in Rochester, and at the University of Rochester. She has performed in Morelia, Mexico at the Conservatoria de las Rosas. She was recently selected to the University of Rochester's Take Five Scholars program, and will continue work on a comprehensive project to record the unique practices of her teacher, Bonita Boyd.

Liz Spector, oboe

Liz Spector is a junior at the Eastman School of Music in the studio of Richard Killmer. She has been the English horn and associate principal oboe of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra since Fall of 2006. She has recently performed the United States premiere Rolf Rudin's "Am Ende des Tages" for solo English horn and Wind Ensemble. Liz frequently performs with the Rochester Chamber Orchestra, the Mercury Opera, the Eastman Wind Ensemble and the Eastman Philharmonia. Liz has participated in summer festivals such as the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, Music in the Mountains in Durango, Colorado, and the International Festival-Institute at Roundtop, Texas. This summer, she will be attending master classes at the Banff Center of the Arts as well as the orchestral program at the Lucerne Academy in Switzerland.

Isabel Kim, clarinet

Isabel Kim is a junior at the Eastman School of Music in the studio of Jon Manasse. She has attended Juilliard Pre-College and the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College. She has performed with many ensembles including New York Youth Symphony, the Making Score Ensemble, New Jersey All-State Orchestra, Eastman Wind Ensemble, Ossia, and NEO. Isabel has also participated in summer festivals such as the Kinhaven Music School and the Eastern Music Festival. She has recorded with the Eastman Wind Ensemble and the Canadian Brass for their "Manhattan Music" album.

Eryn Bauer, bassoon

Eryn Bauer is a sophomore at the Eastman School of Music in the studio of John Hunt. She was a member for the Florida All-State Orchestra and participated in Festival of Winds and Tri-State. She served as principal bassoonist of the Tampa Bay Youth Orchestra for two years and was the co-winner of the Helen Torres scholarship. Eryn was a co-winner of the Tampa Bay Symphony Young Artists Competition, in which she had the opportunity to solo with the orchestra. In 2007, she was also a finalist in the Florida Orchestra Young Artist Concerto Competition. She has attended Kinhaven Music School and Sarasota Music Festival.

Sophie Goluses, horn

 

In May of 2008, Sophie Goluses, horn graduated from the Eastman School of Music with a Bachelor's Degree in Applied Music. She has performed with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Mercury Opera Rochester, Oswego Opera Orchestra, Eastman Philharmonia, and the Eastman Wind Ensemble. In the summer of 2008, she will be playing principal horn in the Sieur Duluth Summer Arts Festival Opera Orchestra in Duluth, Minnesota. Sophie has participated in music festivals such as Domaine Forget, Music Academy of the West, Ohio Light Opera, Pierre Monteux School for conductors and musicians, Aspen Music Festival, and Brevard Music Festival. She has recorded with the Ohio Light Opera and Eastman Opera Theater on Albany Records.