2023 Artists in Residence
Our Artists in Residence are dynamic and innovative professional musicians on the cutting-edge of the classical musical field today. Artists collaborate with festival participants in guided chamber music and duo rehearsals, perform in public concerts together, and lead performance and other creative classes. Learn more about our Artist in Residence Program here.
Peter Dugan, Head of Artist in Residence Program, piano
pianoSonoma Rose, pianoSonoma Cabernet, pianoSunValley
New York, NY – April 18, 2019 – Pianist Peter Dugan photographed at the Yamaha Salon in Manhattan
Pianist Peter Dugan’s debut performances with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony were described by the Los Angeles Times as “stunning” and by the SF Chronicle as “fearlessly athletic.” He is heard across America as the host of NPR’s beloved program From the Top. He has appeared as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician across North America and abroad, and can be heard as the piano soloist on a new release of Ives’ Fourth Symphony from Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony. In 2020, he joined violinist Joshua Bell for At Home With Music, a national PBS broadcast and live album release on Sony Classical. Prizing stylistic versatility as the hallmark of a 21st century musician, Peter is equally at home in classical, jazz, and pop idioms.
A sought-after multi-genre artist, Peter has performed in duos and trios with artists ranging from Itzhak Perlman and Renee Fleming to Jesse Colin Young and Glenn Close. The Wall Street Journal described Peter’s collaboration with violinist Charles Yang as a “classical-meets-rockstar duo.” This season Charles and Peter are Artists in Residence at New York’s Kaufman Music Center and the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University.
Peter has been presented in chamber music recitals by Carnegie Hall, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, Music at Menlo, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and the Moab Music Festival. He was a 2021 featured recitalist and lecturer for the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy and has soloed with the San Francisco Symphony, Houston Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, and New World Symphony.
His latest album with baritone John Brancy – The Journey Home: Live from the Kennedy Center – was released on Avie Records in 2021 along with an accompanying documentary film from WNET’s AllArts. Together John and Peter won first prize at the 2018 Montreal International Music Competition and second prize at the 2017 Wigmore Hall International Song Competition.
Peter advocates the importance of music in the community and at all levels of society. As a founding creator of Operation Superpower, a superhero opera for children, he has traveled to dozens of schools in the greater New York area, performing for students and encouraging them to use their talents – their superpowers – for good. He is head of the Artist in Residence program at pianoSonoma and a founding faculty member of the Resonance and Soundboard Institutes at Honeywell Arts Academy.
Peter holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, where he studied under Matti Raekallio. He resides in New York City with his wife, mezzo-soprano Kara Dugan, and serves on the piano faculty at The Juilliard School Extension. Peter is a Yamaha Artist.
Michael Dahlberg, cello
pianoSonoma Rose, pianoSonoma Cabernet
Photo credit: Zoe Lin
Cellist and educator Michael Dahlberg has built an eclectic career exploring music as a vehicle for learning and community-building while maintaining a regular freelance schedule that has carried him from local gallery spaces to international concert halls.
A chamber musician noted for his “sensitivity and coloristic playing” (The New York Times), Michael graduated from New England Conservatory (NEC), where he studied with Yeesun Kim. During his degree, Michael worked closely with members of the Borromeo, Cleveland, Concord, Juilliard and Takács Quartets as well as Lucy Chapman, Kim Kashkashian and Vivian Weilerstein.
Across his five summers at Tanglewood Music Center, Michael was awarded the Karl Zeise Memorial Cello Award (2009) and featured in contemporary chamber works as a New Fromm Player (2011-2013). Collaborators during this time ranged from artists such as Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Oliver Knussen, Charles Wuorinen and John Zorn to the Mark Morris Dance Group and Laura Grill Band.
Locally in Boston, Michael was a founding member and principal cellist of ensembles such as Discovery Ensemble, Juventas New Music Ensemble and Phoenix Orchestra, groups aimed at revitalizing the way classical music is developed, presented and taught in New England. He earned entrepreneurial grants and awards from NEC and the St. Botolph Club for projects that “reflect the essence of reinvention and new thinking” (Tony Woodcock, NEC President Emeritus).
During the 2011-2013 seasons, Michael performed across New England as cellist of the Boston Public Quartet (BPQ). The BPQ presented concerts and workshops as Celebrity Series’ first “Artist in Community” and were featured as the fellowship ensemble at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music in 2013. As teaching artists, the BPQ founded the non-profit musiConnects, providing Boston-area communities access to music instruction, forums for creative collaboration, and free performances. Michael served as Managing Director of musiConnects in 2012/2013, helping to double private donations that year.
As Director of National Outreach Programs for NPR’s “From the Top,” Michael designed and facilitated over 80 interactive music events nationwide for more than 11,000 audience members of all ages. As facilitator of these events and accompanying leadership seminars, Michael worked directly with over 250 of America’s top young musicians, to help expand the ways they empower, inspire, and create change through music.
In his free time, Michael loves to cook, explore, and play classic video games. He recently relocated to the Bay Area with his wife, Allesandra, and their 15-pound-cat, Gus. Learn more on his website: www.michael-dahlberg.
Kara Dugan, mezzo-soprano
pianoSonoma Cabernet, pianoSunValley
Mezzo soprano Kara Dugan has been praised by The New York Times for her “vocal warmth and rich character.” Her diverse career ranges from baroque oratorio to world premieres. Her work with living composers has included the world premiere of Michael Tilson Thomas’ Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind, a production of John Musto’s Bastianello at Festival Napa Valley with the composer at the piano, and an appearance with the Albany Symphony performing Michael Daugherty’s This Land Sings, a multi-genre tribute to Woody Guthrie. Recently, she won first place in the Rochester International Vocal Competition and was selected to be a member of WQXR’s Artist Propulsion Lab.
Her work as a baroque concert soloist began during her studies at The Juilliard School and has taken her on three international tours with Juilliard415 and conductors Ton Koopman, Masaaki Suzuki, and Nicholas McGegan, culminating in a performance as the Soprano II soloist in Bach’s Mass in B minor at the Boston Early Music Festival. Operatic highlights include Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Zaida in Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia, and Nireno in Handel’s Giulio Cesare. She has performed with the San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Marlboro Music Festival, Ravinia Steans Institute, Aspen Music Festival, Wolf Trap Opera, and at venues ranging from National Sawdust to Alice Tully Hall.
As a passionate recitalist she performs often with her husband Peter Dugan, pianist and host of NPR’s From the Top. The husband and wife duo were recently featured on PBS Great Performances’ “Now Hear This” and have performed across the United States, including at the Joye in Aiken Festival, Charles Ives Concert Series, Moab Music Festival, Portland Chamber Music Festival, and most recently at WQXR’s Greene Space. The duo’s eclectic repertoire has brought them to a wide range of venues including Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater, where they joined genre-defying string group Time for Three. Kara received her Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees from The Juilliard School. She is a proud recipient of the Novick Career Advancement Grant.
Anita Graef, cello
pianoSonoma Cabernet
Described as a musician of “superb artistry” (Pasadena Now) who plays with “high energy and polish” (WQXR), cellist Anita Graef has earned recognition for her music making as an artist who is equally at home exploring traditional as well as contemporary works, along with a deep commitment to service, outreach and education. Notable appearances include features in Strings Magazine, as well as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert series, and “Concerts from the Library of Congress.” She has also performed as a guest of various radio programs, including WQXR, WFMT, WGTE, WUOL, WOSU, WVPB, NPR and others. Anita has performed with orchestras across the United States, with recent and upcoming engagements including the Louisville Orchestra, Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra and others. Highlights of the 2022-2023 season include her New York debut with the Riverside Symphony, as well as recital appearances at the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg, Ojai’s Chamber on the Mountain, the Charlotte Warner Concert Series at Kenyon College, the Nielsen Concert Series, and return appearances to “Live from WFMT” and “Temecula Presents,” among others.
As a recitalist, Anita’s appearances include the New Lens Concert Series, Chamber on the Mountain, the Speed Art Museum, the Al Ringling Theatre, Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society, Boston Court Pasadena, the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg, Vesper Concerts, Round Lake Auditorium, Antigonish Performing Arts, Lyric Chamber Music Society, the Chicago Symphony Overture Council, Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, “Concerts from the Library of Congress,” and live radio broadcasts including “Young Artists Showcase” on WQXR and “Live from WFMT.” Her approach to programming is fresh and innovative, mixing works from the classical canon along with those from underrepresented voices, as well as several world premieres. She also serves as the Artistic Director and cellist of the Juliani Ensemble, an inventive, multi-faceted chamber ensemble, with whom she has performed extensively both nationally and internationally.
Festival appearances include her role as an Artist in Residence at pianoSonoma, the Victoria Bach Festival, Lake George Music Festival, as a Fellow with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, as principal cellist at Brevard Music Festival, as assistant principal cellist of Miami Music Festival, as well as the Catskills High Peaks Music Festival and Credo Chamber Music Festival at Oberlin Conservatory. As an orchestral musician, frequent appearances include the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, originally as a recipient of the CSO-CCM Fellowship, as assistant principal of the Missouri Symphony, as well as performances with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, and others.
As a passionate educator and instructor, Anita has performed and taught masterclasses at institutions such as Washington and Lee University, Kenyon College, the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, the University of Missouri, Grand View University, Columbia University, the University of Chicago and others. She has taught as a Youth Programs Artist for Music in May festival, as a teaching artist for GetClassical’s “GC In School” program, and has led workshops for Lyric Chamber Music Society and Mayfair Arts Center. As a writer, her work has been published in Strings Magazine, where she serves as a frequent contributor.
She was recently named as the 2022 Gheens Young Artist, an award from the Gheens Foundation which included her concerto debut with the Louisville Orchestra, as well performing, speaking and serving as an educator throughout the city. In 2021, she was announced as the recipient of the American Prize in Instrumental Performance.
Born into a family of professional musicians, Anita grew up surrounded by music. Her introduction to music began with piano studies, while beginning to study cello at age four, later making her concerto debut at the age of twelve. She went on to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, where she studied with professor Anthony Elliott. Following this, she completed studies for a Master’s Degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, under the tutelage of Ilya Finkelshteyn.
When not making music, Anita enjoys reading, cooking, crocheting, weight lifting, hiking, spending time with friends and family, volunteer work and exploring new cities.
Anita performs on a modern Italian cello by Ferdinando Garimberti, dated 1923.
For more information, visit anitagraef.com.
Sasha Kasman Laude, piano
pianoSonoma Cabernet
Pianist Sasha Kasman Laude’s playing has been described by the Palm Beach Arts Paper as “powerful and vivid” and having “such an abundance of intelligence that it can only be described as relentless” (Ludwig van Toronto). She is in demand as a soloist and pedagogue with engagements across three continents.
Sasha appears as a guest artist and teacher at the invitation of such festivals as International Keyboard Institute and Festival, Southeastern Piano Festival, Utah State University Summer Piano Festival, Baia Mare (Romania), Busan International Music Academy (South Korea), and PianoCity Milano (Italy). She has given solo recitals at major venues including Steinway Hall in New York City, Yamaha Ginza Hall in Tokyo, Salle Cortot in Paris, and Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa.
Sasha has performed as a soloist with over a dozen orchestras in the USA and abroad under the batons of distinguished maestros Jeffrey Kahane, Neal Gittleman, Gregory Vajda, Jeffrey Milarsky, Yaniv Attar, Christopher Confessore, Jacques Cohen, Mykola Dyadura, Nazar Yakobenchuk, Yuriy Litun, and Natalia Ponomarchuk. Kasman Laude enjoys a longstanding collaboration with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, having performed seven different concertos with the ensemble. While a student at Juilliard, Sasha premiered Marc Migó’s Double Concerto for Piano and Violin with the Juilliard Orchestra in New York’s Alice Tully Hall. She is an advocate and experienced performer of contemporary music, premiering works of Stewart Goodyear, Nathan Daughtrey, Zachary Detrick, and Eric Mobley. An enthusiastic chamber musician, Kasman Laude has collaborated with such esteemed players as Martin Beaver, Blake Pouliot, Alice Ivy-Pemberton, Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin, the Viano and Aeolus String Quartets, and the New York Chamber Players. She and her father Yakov Kasman have been a touring piano duo for close to fifteen years.
Sasha is a recipient of the Raeburn Finalist Prize at the 2022 Honens International Piano Competition (broadcast worldwide). She is a top prizewinner of numerous international competitions (Premio Melini, Charles Wadsworth, Seattle, Wideman, National Federation of Music Clubs, Horowitz, and others). In 2019, she became a Young Artist-in-Residence of National Public Radio’s Performance Today hosted by Fred Child. Her playing and interviews have been broadcast numerous times on NPR stations nationwide. Sasha’s current season includes engagements with the Birmingham Chamber Music Society, InConcert Series of Apalachicola, FL, International Keyboard Odyssiad and Festival in Colorado, Vivace International Music Festival in North Carolina, and the Dayton Philharmonic, as well as her debut with the Ann Arbor Symphony and second consecutive summer at pianoSonoma.
A native of Moscow,Sasha began her musical studies with her parents, acclaimed pianists and pedagogues Yakov and Tatiana Kasman. She continued studying with her father at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and went on to receive MM and DMA degrees from the Juilliard School (studying with Robert McDonald) and University of Michigan (studio assistant of Logan Skelton) respectively. Sasha is a dedicated music teacher herself; in addition to maintaining a private studio, she has lectured and given masterclasses at Lee University, Utah State University, Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, and Bowling Green State University. Sasha is an alumna of PianoArts’ Fellow program, having given close to one hundred educational performances in the Milwaukee area for children and adults. In her leisure time, she enjoys beating her husband at chess and transcribing Soviet film music.
Riley Mulherkar, trumpet
pianoSunValley
Photo credit: Zenith Richards
Riley Mulherkar has been recognized as a “smart young trumpet player” by The New York Times, praised by The Wall Street Journal as a “youngster to keep an eye on,” and is a 2020 recipient of Lincoln Center’s Emerging Artist Award for his work as “an original bandleader, composer, arranger, educator, community activist and advocate for jazz and the arts.” Riley works with a number of leading artists of our time, including Wynton Marsalis, Anna Deavere Smith, and Alan Cumming, and is a founding member of The Westerlies, a new music brass quartet that creates the rarest of hybrids: music that is both “folk-like and composerly, lovely and intellectually rigorous” (NPR Music). Riley also serves as Artistic Director for Jazz at Joye in Aiken, bringing leading young talent to the historic city of Aiken, South Carolina.
Born and raised in Seattle, Riley moved to New York in 2010 to study at The Juilliard School, where he completed his Bachelor’s Degree in 2014 and his Master’s in 2015. In 2014, he was the first recipient of the Laurie Frink Career Grant at the Festival of New Trumpet Music.
Riley is actively engaged in educational initiatives, founding the Joye in Aiken Jazz Camp in 2021, directing the Summer Advanced Institute at Seattle JazzEd from 2017-2019, and serving as an ambassador for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s “Jazz for Young People” program in New York and St. Louis from 2016 – 2018. Additionally, Riley is an artist-in-residence at The College of Performing Arts at The New School in New York, NY.
Riley is an Edwards Artist and performs on Edwards trumpets.
Doori Na, violin
pianoSonoma Cabernet
Known for his sweet and “sumptuous tone” (New York Times), American-born Doori Na took up violin at the age of four and began his studies with Li Lin at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In the fall of 2018, he made his debut with The San Francisco Symphony performing Bach’s Double Violin Concerto with Itzhak Perlman and Michael Tilson Thomas.
Currently living in New York City, Doori plays with numerous ensembles around the city. He has played with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra with tours in the US, Japan, and Europe performing in venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York and the Musiverien in Vienna. Doori is also a member of Argento Chamber Ensemble performing works of living composers such as Georg Friedrich Haas, Beat Furrer, Tristan Murail, and many more. New Chamber Ballet is where you can find Doori regularly performing solo works for dance and he has been a part of the company since 2013. Recent tours include performing in Lake Tahoe, Germany, and Guatemala.
Chamber music has also been an integral part of Doori’s musical career. He has collaborated with members of the Juilliard String Quartet, Orion String Quartet, New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera and has been fortunate to tour with Itzhak Perlman at venues such as the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Other notable experiences include performing at the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach with the Bonhoeffer Trio and Les Amies trio. In addition to performing, Doori has been active in teaching and doing outreach at schools. He has worked at the Juilliard School as a teaching assistant to Catherine Cho as well as working as a coach for the Pre-College Orchestra. Outreach to schools include going to Sarasota, Florida with the Perlman Music Program/Suncoast, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates with Juilliard Global Ventures, and the British International School of Chicago with The Juilliard School President, Joseph Polisi.
Doori attended the Juilliard School with the Dorothy Starling and Dorothy Delay scholarships and holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree where he studied under Itzhak Perlman, Catherine Cho, and Donald Weilerstein. He was concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra and was fortunate to play on a Guadagnini and Vuillaume violin from the Juilliard School’s prestigious violin collection.
Shelbie Rassler, composition
pianoSonoma Cabernet
Shelbie Rassler rose to national and global acclaim for her compositions and viral social impact music videos supporting those affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Following her viral production of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “What the World Needs Now,” Shelbie was presented with a CBS Sunday Morning Award, and the video was featured with a discussion between Shelbie and Mr. Bacharach on CNN’s “The Fourth in America” Primetime Special. Shelbie has since been interviewed on The Today Show, Good Morning America, Forbes, NPR, SiriusXM, and dozens of other media outlets. She currently works with Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley on their hit show, “Stars in the House,” collaborating with Broadway stars and raising over $1 million for The Entertainment Community Fund. Most notably, she acted in a key role on the music production team of the “Seasons of Love/Let the Sunshine In” Broadway performance at the Emmy-nominated 2021 presidential inauguration concert, alongside artists such as Katy Perry and Demi Lovato. Her production of “Georgia On My Mind,” featuring countless Tony award-winning Broadway performers, is actively distributed by Broadway Records and landed on the Billboard charts. She produced a string of virtual performances, man of which were fundraisers for organizations such as the NAACP, Americans for the Arts, several Covid relief healthcare workers’ funds, and Stacey Abrams’ “Rock the Runoff COncert,” which resulted in a $1.2 million donation and featured artists such as Justin Timberlake and John Legend. Shelbie has recently written new works, arrangements, and orchestrations for notable performers and ensembles such Yo-Yo Ma, Anthony McGill, Lara Downs, Brad Balliet of Decoda (Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble-in-Residence), the New World Symphony Orchestra, members of the United Nations Chamber Music Scoiety, and the Broward Health Foundation, as well as several SONY Records and RCA Records artists. As a music director, Shelbie has worked at the Lovewell Institute for the Creative Arts, and her musical theater work has been featured in Feinstein’s 54Below and the New York Musical Festival
Shelbie was named Truthspaper’s “Young Woman of the Year”, alongside notable figures such as Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Greta Thunberg. She has also been nominated for an American Academy of Arts and Letters Composer Award, was named the Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s Presser Scholar and recently won the Eugene New Music Festival Call for Scores. As a film composer, Shelbie has worked on the music production team of various Netflix shows and has written the score for a Lexus commercial and documentary, various HBO Max ads, several theme songs and jingles for renowned social media influencers, and many short films, including Titan, which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime and is a CMF Cannes Film Festival Official Selection. As a motivational speaker, Shelbie served as one of the 19 Featured Speakers at the 2021 Imagine Solutions Conference, alongside individuals such as Robert Langer (co-founder of Moderna) and Cecilia Conrad (CEO of Lever for Change). She has spoken at countless conferences and on dozens of panels at organizations such as the College Music Society and has taught masterclasses at organizations and institutions such as Maestra Music, led by Georgia Stitt, Emerson College, the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and more.
Christine Wu, piano
pianoSonoma Cabernet
American pianist Christine Wu has performed in concert venues throughout North America and Europe, including in Merkin Hall, the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, Petit Palau de la Música Catalana, and Théâtre du Châtelet.
Praised in The New York Times by chief music critic Anthony Tommasini for her “arresting” playing, Christine’s performance of Oliver Knussen’s Variations, Op. 24, was described as “one of the highlights of the program” at Tanglewood’s Festival of Contemporary Music. Christine is the third prize winner of the Ettore Pozzoli International Piano Competition, and has performed both solo and chamber music in festivals including Music Academy of the West, Tanglewood Music Center, and Aspen Music Festival.
As someone who believes in the importance of playing both classical and contemporary music, Christine has a wide range of experience as a solo and ensemble player of new music. She is a former member of the Frankfurt-based International Ensemble Modern Akademie, and has played in major new music festivals including the Lucerne Festival, ManiFeste Paris, and Time of Music Festival in Viitasaari, Finland, and premiered over 20 new works.
Christine received both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, where she was a student of Hung
Kuan Chen and Julian Martin. She also holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Yale School of Music, where she studied with Peter Frankl, Christopher Elton, and Peter Serkin. Christine is currently based in Cologne,Germany, where she studies with Pierre-Laurent Aimard.
Charles Yang, violin
pianoSunValley
Recipient of the 2018 Leonard Bernstein Award and described by the Boston Globe as one who “plays classical violin with the charisma of a rock star,” Juilliard graduate Charles Yang began his violin studies with his mother in Austin, Texas, and has since studied with world-renowned pedagogues Kurt Sassmanshaus, Paul Kantor, Brian Lewis and Glenn Dicterow. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras and in concert in the United States, Europe, Brazil, Russia, China, and Taiwan, and is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. On June 9th of 2005, the Mayor of Austin presented Charles with his own “Charles Yang Day”. In 2016 Charles joined the crossover string-band, Time for Three.
Not only confined to classical violin, Charles’ improvisational crossover abilities as a violinist, electric violinist, and vocalist have led him to featured performances with a variety of artists in such festivals as The Aspen Music Festival, The Schleswig- Holstein Music Festival, The Ravinia Festival, The Crested Butte Music Festival, The Cayman Arts Festival, The YouTube Music Awards, The Moab Music Festival, TED, Caramoor, The EG Conference, Google Zeitgeist, Interlochen, and onstage at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center’s Metropolitan Opera House, David H. Koch Theater, Dizzy’s and David Rubinstein Atrium; The Long Center, Rudolfinum, The Royal Danish Theatre, Le Poisson Rouge, Highline Ballroom, Ars Nova, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Forbidden City in Beijing among many others. He has performed in the presence of two former US Presidents, the Queen of Denmark and has shared the stage in collaborations with artists including Peter Dugan, CDZA, Steve Miller, Jesse Colin Young, Jake Shimabukuro, Ray Benson, Michael Gordon, Marcelo Gomes, Savion Glover, Twyla Tharp, Misty Copeland, and Jon Batiste. Charles recently made his solo debut with Marin Alsop and The Chicago Symphony at The Ravinia Festival. His career has been followed by various news media including The New York Times, The New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, The Financial Times, The Austin-American Statesman, The Austin Chronicle and The Strad. Charles is featured in Nick Romeo’s book Driven, as well as Discovery Channel’s Curiosity.
The Texas Observer noted, “Mr. Yang is a true crossover artist, a pioneer who can hop between classical and popular music and bring fresh ideas to fans of both genres. Rather than maintaining an insular focus and simply assuming that an audience for classical music will always exist, he wants to actively create that audience, to persuade and seduce others into enjoying a type of music as passionately as he does.”
