Allen Chang (Jan 1) is a pianist originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan. He graduated from Yale University in 2019, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in statistics and was co-president of the Yale Undergraduate Piano Collective. Allen has studied piano with Logan Skelton, Elizabeth Parisot, Donald Morelock, Sonoko Kambara, and Chao-Li Tsai. He also plays the clarinet and is currently the principal clarinetist of the Seattle Philharmonic. Outside of music, Allen enjoys traveling, eating, skiing, playing tennis, playing chess, and petting dogs.
Lin Chen (Jan 14) is a freelance vocalist, violinist and music educator in the Greater Seattle area. Growing up in Australia, she was fortunate to study music with esteemed teachers from the Griffith Conservatorium in Brisbane and the Sydney conservatorium. Her experience in vocal performance spans multiple genres including Classical, Musical theatre and Jazz. She currently studies voice with Dr Kari Ragan. Lin is also a violin coach for the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra (BYSO) and performs with a number of local ensembles including her own string quartet—Quartet Evolution. Her career highlights include performing at the Sydney Opera House, Westminster Abbey and Cologne Cathedral. She enjoys giving regular recitals in Seattle with the Ladies Musical Club.
Erika Fiebig (Jan 14) is a Seattle native and started cello at five. She studied at Oberlin College, coaches the Bellevue Youth Symphony, and plays in the Ballard Civic Orchestra and subs with Yakima Symphony Orchestra. Teachers are Richard Aaron and Rajan Krishnaswami. Find her in the pit at many local theaters and in a quartet at many local weddings!
Ute Freund (Jan 14), lyric mezzo soprano, received her undergraduate and graduate training in classical voice, opera, and voice pedagogy at the University of Hamburg, Germany. Her career as a soloist started with Hamburg State Opera and continued with German and American opera companies. Ute equally sang oratorio and solo recitals, organized concert series (“Christmas with the Classics,” Benefit Concerts) and founded “Trio Encore.” She teaches voice out of her private studio in Edmonds after spending 10 years at the University of the Arts in Berlin, Germany, as a voice instructor. She loves foreign languages and extensive travel, hiking with her dog, bicycling, and playing pickleball.
Pianist Nobuko Hasegawa (Jan 11), born in Japan, began to play piano at age 4 and was soon in demand as an accompanist performing at weddings, festivals and teaching. Performances include the piano duo group at the Levine School of Music in Washington D.C., the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in China, and with the Telemann Chamber Music Group in Osaka, Japan. Nobuko has studied with Ms. Kazuko Yokoi, Professor emeritus of Osaka University of Education and Dr. Robert Palmer, the Ruth Weldy Mauzy and Mary Weldy Porter Distinguished Professor of Music, and holds Master’s Degrees in Piano Performance and Accompanying/Chamber Music.
Katie Hochman (Jan 14), soprano, can be heard regularly giving recitals with Ladies Musical Club of Seattle. She has also enjoyed singing opera and oratorio with Puget Sound Concert Opera (PSCO), Opera Theater Oregon, Portland Opera, Utah Opera, Columbia Chorale and Southwest Washington Symphony (SWS). Highlights include the title role of Massenet’s Cendrillon and Héro in Berlioz’s Beatrice et Bénédict performed with PSCO and Exultate, jubilate performed with SWS.
Emiko Hori (Jan 1), a native of Japan, graduated from the renowned Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Piano Performance. She studied with Shigeo Neriki, and performed at numerous places including Banff Centre, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Germany. Emiko became fascinated with and continued her study in Computer Science at Boston University. Busy working in technology companies such as CommerceHub and Microsoft, Emiko thought she would never play the piano again. She was wrong; Emiko is now actively performing piano at numerous concert venues. Emiko enjoys dividing her time between performing concerts, teaching piano, and working at Starbucks HQ’s Digital Commerce team.
Maria Khavin (Jan 14) 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.
Stasia Kulsa (Jan 14), flutist, has a Master of Arts in Music from Washington State University that she completed under the guidance of Dr. Sophia Tegart. In addition, she has undergraduate degrees in Music Performance and Mechanical Engineering from WSU. While at WSU, she performed with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Orchestra, the Latin Jazz Ensemble, and the Crimson Flute Choir. Since graduating, she has been performing with the Bremerton WestSound Symphony and working as an Acoustics Engineer at Blue Origin.
Dr. Jennifer Li (Jan 1) completed her Doctorate of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from the Manhattan School of Music in 2001. In that same year, she was awarded the Special Presentation Award by Artists International, which presented her solo debut recital at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. Jennifer has performed in master classes for renowned concert pianists including John Perry, Lazar Berman, John O’Conor, and Roslyn Tureck, among others. She has given solo recitals in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington, and the Netherlands. Since returning to her hometown of Seattle in 2003, Jennifer has established a successful private teaching studio and continues to perform as a soloist and chamber musician.
Joan Lundquist (Jan 14) 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. Ms. Lundquist is the retired Director of Music at Immanuel Lutheran Church in downtown Seattle and currently is the rehearsal accompanist for the Seattle Choral Company.
Kayleigh Miller (Jan 17, 20) was a member of the San Antonio Symphony and is a current member of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra and Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. She has additionally performed with the Oregon Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera, the Britt Festival, and National Arts Centre Orchestra. She holds degrees from the New England Conservatory and Eastman School of Music, and has certifications in Pilates, yoga, strength training, and Body Mapping. In her spare time, she enjoys strength training, running, hiking, and spending time with her two chihuahua mixes, Milo and Mortimer.
Tatiana (Tanya) K. Moore (Jan 20) 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.
Gail Perstein (Jan 11) has a Bachelor of Science from Springfield College, a Bachelor of Music from P.L.U., a Master of Music from U.W. (both in oboe performance) and a Master of Arts in Historical Musicology, also from U.W. She splits her time between teaching oboe privately, performing on oboe/English horn, and performing early music. She played in both early and classical music groups at P.L.U. and U.W., and continues performing in various settings, ranging from Tacoma Opera to local church services. Ms. Perstein performed for many years with her own medieval group, Chansonnier, using period instruments. She was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle for 22 years and chair of the Frances Walton Competition Committee for 23 years.
Soprano Tiina Ritalahti (Jan 14) holds degrees in music and vocal performance from the University of Washington. She has performed throughout Washington with Northwest Opera in Schools Etcetera (NOISE), Puget Sound Opera, Ladies Musical Club and Puget Sound Concert Opera, as well as being a featured soloist for the Finlandia Foundation. She has sung such roles as the First Spirit and Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Despina in Cosi fan tutte, Lisa in Bellini’s La sonnambula, Änchen in Der Freischütz by Weber, Cis in Britten’s Albert Herring, and Olympia in Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffman. Further, she has performed in multiple operas by Menotti: Lucy in The Telephone, Monica in The Medium, and Laetitia in The Old Maid and the Thief. Her passion for singing also extends to art song repertoire, which she performs regularly in recitals around Western Washington. Tiina has created unique breathing classes for young singers that combine her knowledge and experience as a massage therapist, certified yoga teacher and singer.
Eric Shankland (Jan 11, 17) 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.
Julie Shankland (Jan 11, 17) has played clarinet since marching band in the Ohio snow. Since moving to Washington, Julie has played in the UW Concert Band, Eastside Symphony, West Seattle Community Orchestras, Rain City Symphony, and various chamber music camps. Julie is an adult student of Jennifer Nelson and recently learned to play bass clarinet. Julie works in the Office of General Counsel at the Washington State Bar Association.
Jonathan Shih (Jan 1) began his piano studies with various Chicago-area teachers (most notably Emilio del Rosario), and continued briefly at Northwestern University under James Giles before a minor hand injury and recession-induced career introspection led him to forgo piano for an engineering degree. After a decade-long hiatus due to work travel, he resumed playing and now studies with Peter Mack. Jonathan has performed live on 98.7 WFMT (Chicago) and won first prize in the 2025 Oberlin International Adult Amateur Piano Competition. He was also a finalist in the 2024 Washington International Piano Artists Competition, where he received special awards for “Best Classical Performance” and “Most Imaginative Programming.” When not at the piano, Jonathan works as a product designer at a small startup and enjoys cooking, traveling, and collecting other hobbies.
Melet Whinston (Jan 14) studied under Maria DeRungs, and was first chair in the Portland Junior Symphony and Princeton University Orchestra. She has presented school performances as a member of the Leschi Trio and as a duo with Michael Housley, pianist. She is a performing member of the Ladies Musical Club, the Music Performance Group, and the Performers Only Night—Everyone Welcome! monthly musical nights. She has many years of experience as a chamber musician and solo performer, gives recitals regularly, and performs weekly at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church.