Soprano Clarice Alfonso (Jan 8), acclaimed for her musical elegance and dynamic expression, enjoys a vibrant performing schedule in the Pacific Northwest. Recent highlights feature Bach’s Cantata 51 with Northwest Corner Chamber Orchestra, Rosita in Seattle Opera’s Frida Kahlo and Lucy in The Telephone with Puget Sound Concert Opera. Favorite performances include Belinda in Dido and Aeneas, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, and Silvia in Philip Seward’s premiere of Sincerely Yours. As one of the founders of Forte! Chicago (with her duet partner, Susan Payne O’Brien leading the way), she explores diverse genres, presenting concerts of art song, early music, and musical theater. Clarice’s concert career includes her debut at Chicago Orchestra Hall, collaborations with organist David Briggs, and performances in renowned venues like Carnegie Hall with the Chicago Symphony Choir. She actively contributes to Seattle’s music scene, singing at St. James Cathedral, Temple Beth Am, and with local choral groups such as Opus 7 and Emerald Ensemble. Clarice has a boisterous two-year-old and teaches children’s music classes when she can find a smidgen of time.
Lawrence Chu (Jan 8, 18) is a native of the Seattle area, and currently resides in Bellevue with his family. His former instructors include Phyllis Allport, Frances Walton and Eva Heinitz. After completing 34 years of practice in Emergency Medicine locally, he has begun to reexplore the cello under the guidance of Nathan Chan. He is delighted to have been accepted as an official member of the Ladies Musical Club.
Selina Chu (Jan 8, 18) has been a part of the music community in the Pacific Northwest for over 40 years, as a master teacher and performer. She has served as an adjudicator and visiting artist as well as Board member for such organizations as Washington State Music Teachers Association, National Federation of Music Clubs, and LMC’s Frances Walton Competition. Selina holds advanced degrees in piano performance, from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Washington, as well as national certification as a teacher of music through MTNA. Thirteen years of experience as Alaska Dance Theatre’s Principal Accompanist taught her to play well with others, and she has a special place in her heart for all types of ensembles.
Diana Gao (Jan 18) is a concert pianist and a Senior Marketing Manager at Microsoft. She earned her MBA degree at the University of Washington (UW) in 2015 and is currently studying the piano with Dr. Robin McCabe from UW. She won the Gold Medal of the Seattle International Piano Competition (Outstanding Amateurs Division) and First Prize in the “Golden Classical Music Awards” International Competition, which earned her a solo performance at Carnegie Hall. She’s an active performer in Seattle and international piano festivals. She’s also a Board member of Classical KING and has been a repeated guest of Classical KING’s Northwest Focus Live program. Since 2020, she has presented annual fundraising recitals through the Microsoft Give campaign supporting local non-profit organizations. Those events reinforced her belief that music has the power to inspire change and make the world a better place.
Claire Garvais (guest artist, Jan 12) got her music degree in 2018 from University of California, Santa Barbara where she studied under Andy Radford. In 2020, Claire moved up to Seattle where she plays second bassoon with the Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra and principal bassoon with the West Seattle Community Orchestra’s Wind Symphony. Her favorite composers are Heitor Villa-Lobos and Igor Stravinsky.
Katie Beisel Hollenbach (Jan 21) received a Bachelor of Music degree in clarinet performance from the University of Denver, twice placing in the Boulder Philharmonic Young Artists Concerto Competition, as well as traveling to Assisi, Italy as a finalist in the International Clarinet Association’s annual research competition. She received her PhD in musicology from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and currently works at the University of Washington Graduate School. An active musicologist, Katie’s research on 1940s music fandom will soon be published by Oxford University Press, and she is currently serving as the Trustee, Archives for the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle.
Maria Khavin (Jan 21) is a pianist, teacher, and music education enthusiast. Starting her formal education at age six, she subsequently earned her degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Rimsky-Korsakoff State Music College in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Since moving to Seattle in 1992, Ms. Khavin continued to be an active performer and became a passionate educator. She appeared in numerous piano solo performances, and accompanied hundreds of instrumentalists and vocalists. She made her orchestral debut performing Mozart’s G major piano concerto with Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. In Seattle, she worked with Lyric Opera Northwest, NOISE (Northwest Opera in Schools, Etc.), and Mahler’s Festival, among others. Recently, she became a Ladies Musical Club performing member, presenting several concerts a year. Ms. Khavin holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Washington.
Joan Lundquist (Jan 8, 21) has served as a collaborative pianist for Seattle area musicians and organizations for 30 years. Since moving to the area from Humboldt State University in northern California, where she was staff accompanist, Joan has worked with the Northwest Boychoir, Seattle Choral Company, has taught at Seattle University and Northwest University, and has worked with several area private music teachers. Currently, Ms. Lundquist is the Director of Music at Immanuel Lutheran Church in downtown Seattle and rehearsal accompanist for the Seattle Choral Company.
Karin McCullough (Jan 12) is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music in Piano who gives private lessons in her Ballard studio and performs frequently in Greater Seattle. She co-led two music history tours in Vienna in the early 2000s, is an active volunteer and acting librarian for Seattle Music Teachers Association, and has often performed on KING FM radio on Sean Maclean’s program, Northwest Focus Live. Her most recent performance there—accompanying Brandi Birdsong in songs by H. Leslie Adams—is available on NPR (https://livesessions.npr.org/videos).
Tatiana (Tanya) K. Moore (Jan 21) started studying piano at age six with the goal of becoming a concert pianist. She completed music school studies in Moscow, Russia, and, after immigrating to the U.S., continued them in NYC at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, both preparatory and college levels. Taking an orthogonal path upon graduation from Fordham University and, after a career in the high-tech industry at IBM, Microsoft and Sonos, Tanya returned to music studies at the Chopin Academy of Music. She has been building a new repertoire, performing in concerts, recitals and local competitions.
Rian Morgan (guest artist, Jan 12) is a third-year bassoonist at the University of Washington studying music, under Paul Rafanelli, and nutritional sciences. In the past, she has played in groups such as the Seattle Youth Symphony, Boeing Orchestra of Flight, and has participated in WMEA All-State 2020, and has placed in WA Solo and Ensemble in 2022. She currently plays in the UW Wind Ensemble and Symphony, Ballard Civic Orchestra, and is a member of the Viridian Winds Quintet.
Erika Pierson (Jan 21) earned her bachelor’s in Cello Performance from Indiana University and her master’s in Performance from the University of Michigan. Between her degrees, Erika studied in Berlin, at the Hochschule der Kunste, and in London under Eileen Croxford, FRCM. Her other teachers included Richard Aaron, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Markus Nyikos, and Erling Blondal Bengtsson. Erika has given solo recitals in England, Germany, Spain, and in the United States, and has soloed with orchestras in Berlin, Ann Arbor, and Everett, WA. On the less classical side of things, she has also performed with Mannheim Steamroller, Rod Stewart, The Walkmen, and Deltron 3030. Currently Erika performs regularly as the cellist in NOCCO Chamber Orchestra, and freelances and teaches in the Seattle area.
Ann Rackl (Jan 8, 18), violinist, has retired from a career as an English as a second language teacher at South Seattle College. She is the former assistant concertmaster of Philharmonia Northwest chamber orchestra, where she has been a member since 1976. She holds a Master of Music Education degree from the University of Montana and has studied violin with Emanuel Zetlin and Martin Friedmann in Seattle. Formerly a private violin instructor, these days she especially enjoys playing chamber and orchestral music.
Eric Shankland (Jan 12) has been playing bassoon since age 15. He played in the NCR band and the Youth Philharmonic in Dayton, Ohio. He studied with Arthur Grossman and played in the University Symphony at the University of Washington, and currently studies with Paul Rafanelli of the Seattle Symphony. He was principal bassoon in the Eastside Symphony (Redmond) for fifteen years. Eric is a research scientist at the University of Washington.
Colin Ward (Jan 12) is an alumnus of Western Washington University, having performed with the WWU Concert Choir and appearing in many opera productions, including as Conte Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro. Colin has also appeared in many productions with Puget Sound Concert Opera and with the Seattle Opera Chorus, and is a regular soloist at Christian Science churches in the Seattle area.
Alexa Witowski (guest artist, Jan 12) has been playing bassoon since 6th grade, when she was initially told to try it out because she had abnormally large hands and was thus one of the only 10 year olds that could actually hold it. Since then, she has played with a number of ensembles, the highlights of which include the Princeton University Orchestra, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Austin Chamber Music Center, Austin Youth Orchestra, and the Texas All State band. Professionally, Alexa works in tech as a product director at Motive, the leading connected operations platform for the physical economy.