Elena Tsai - Harpsichord

Harpsichordist Elena Tsai performs as a soloist and continuo player in the Baltimore-Washington D.C. corridor. Ms. Tsai has performed with ensembles whose musical styles have ranged from renaissance to contemporary. Ms. Tsai's primary focus has been on Baroque music and the ensembles with whom she has performed include the Bach Sinfonia, Ensemble Gaudior, the Handel Choir of Baltimore, Harmonious Blacksmith, and Washington's Camerata. She has been the recipient of several awards and grants including the Harriet Hale Woolley, the Frank Huntington Beebe, and the Rislov Foundation. She has also been a semi-finalist in the Pro Musicis Competition in New York City and the Mae and Irving Jurow International Harpsichord Competition. Ms. Tsai received her Master's Degree in Harpsichord Performance from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, her hometown. Shortly afterwards she spent a fully funded year abroad in Paris, France. Ms. Tsai currently resides in Columbia, Maryland with her husband, fellow harpsichordist Joseph Gascho, their two children and four harpsichords.

Sarah McIver - Traverso

Dr. Sarah Eckman McIver enjoys a diverse performing career that includes historical early flute performances, cutting edge contemporary concerts, and military concert band repertoire. She recently attained the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, with a focus on modern works by flutist-composers. Sarah began her advanced musical studies at McGill University in Montreal, where she developed an appreciation for historical performances and a fascination with contemporary works. While pursuing a Master of Music degree at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England, she wrote a thesis on electro-acoustic music for flute and computers and at the same time began studying baroque flute with Lisa Beznosiuk. Her modern flute teachers include Timothy Hutchins, Peter Lloyd, and Dr. William Montgomery. Sarah has attended contemporary music workshops in Poland and France, and enjoyed a chilly winter residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada. In 2003, Sarah returned home to the Washington DC area to serve as flute section leader with the US Army Field Band, whose mission is to tour the country for over a hundred nights a year. She and her husband, Robert McIver, are looking forward to bringing their new baby on her first concert tour.

Kelly Kazik - Traverso, Recorder

Dr. Kelly Kazik is a flutist and early music specialist in the Northern Virginia/Washington D.C. area. She holds a Bachelor's of Music in Flute Performance from the Conservatory of Music at Lawrence University, where she formed the Conservatory's first early music group and recorder consort, the Odhecaton. (The Odhecaton is the first published volume of music by Petrucci in 1501) Kelly holds a Master of Music from the University of North Texas, where she served as Early Music Teaching Assistant. She was regularly a featured soloist with the group, Les Petits Violons, under the direction of Cecil Adkins, and is the featured recorder player on the "Lully Project," which is currently housed in the University of North Texas Music Libraries. Kelly also holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Maryland at College Park where her studies lead her from 18th century French music to 20th century French music. (C'est la vie, non?) Her teachers include Dr. Ernestine Whitman (flute), Terry Sundberg (flute), Dr. George Edward Damp (organ), Dr. Sarah Funkhauser (recorder), Dr. Lee Lattimore (traverso) and Dr. William Montgomery (flute).

Prior to residing in Virginia, Dr. Kazik was the Professor of Flute and Music Theory at Ouachita Baptist University from 2000 to 2002. She was a featured performer at the 2005 National Flute Association Convention in San Diego. She currently lectures and gives masterclasses around the country on the music of Rivier, Bozza, and Francaix. Kelly also serves as organist and choir director for St. Peter's Church, and maintains an active flute studio.

Alicia Kosack - Traverso

Dr. Alicia Kosack enjoys a diverse career as a performer of both modern and Baroque flute. She has won numerous honors, including a Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award. Recently, she made her Carnegie Hall debut performing in the Ton Koopman Young Artists Concert at Zankel Hall. She was selected for the 2005 National Flute Association Professional Flute Choir, and was a prizewinner in the 2004 Flute Society of Washington Young Artist Competition.

An active soloist and chamber musician, she regularly performs with the Trelumina Trio and has performed with groups such as the Ash Lawn Opera Festival, Inscape Chamber Orchestra, Washington Bach Consort, Opera Vivente, the Handel Choir of Baltimore, and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, among other ensembles. She is equally committed to teaching, and is currently on faculty at York College of Pennsylvania, Bryn Mawr School, Roland Park Country School, and Garrison Forest School. In addition to performing and teaching, Alicia has served as Vice-President of the Flute Society of Washington and was the program chair for the 2007 and 2008 Mid-Atlantic Flute Fair.

Alicia recently completed her DMA at the University of Maryland, with a focus on flute music by American women composers. She received an MM from the Peabody Conservatory and a BM from the Harid Conservatory. Her teachers include Dr. William Montgomery, Mark Sparks, Laura Gilbert, Robert Bush, Cheryl Gobbetti-Hoffman, and Colin St. Martin.

Trystan Bennett - Guest Continuo

Trystan Bennett is an organist and harpsichordist based in Fredericksburg, Virginia and active in the Washington DC Metro area. He studied organ and harpsichord at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, and holds a degree in Honors Music History from McGill University in Montreal.

An active member in the Early Music Departments at both schools, Trystan regularly performed as a vocalist or continuo player with a variety of period instrument and choral ensembles. His research focused on his keen interests in vocal and keyboard historical performance practice and in organology - the study and classification of instruments and their design.

As a vocalist, he has performed with several professional choirs in Baltimore and Montreal including the Orpheus Singers; the choir of Grace and St. Peter's, Baltimore; the choir of St. Andrew and St. Paul, Montreal; the gallery choir of St. John the Evangelist, Montreal; and the chamber choir of St. Mathias, Westmount. In university, he was also a member of the Peabody Singers, Peabody Renaissance Ensemble and Capella McGill.

As a church musician, he was an organ scholar at St. Matthias, Westmount and has led worship as an organist and choir director at a variety of churches in Connecticut and Montreal. He is currently an active member of the music program at St. George's Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg, where he sings in several choirs and serves as the staff harpsichordist, occasional substitute organist and continuo player for the St. George’s Chamber Orchestra.

He has had the pleasure of singing under the baton of Edward Polochick, Julian Wacher and Peter Schubert and his teachers have included Webb Wiggins, Tom Beghin, John Grew, Jonathan Oldengarm, and John Martin Marks.