Fostering classical music in the community through education, performance, and awards.
LMC members come together after the 2025 Frances Walton Competition Winners’ Concert and reception to celebrate this past year and preview the upcoming season.
LMC Members: Register HERE for the Annual Meeting. Kindly register by Thursday, May 29th so we can estimate food and drinks for the reception.
Come watch 2024 FWC Small Ensemble Silver Medalists Mousai Quintet perform a ticketed concert at Cascadia Art Museum in Edmonds
In partnership, Ladies Musical Club and Cascadia Art Museum
present
Listen Here! or tune into 98.1 FM.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
The Mousai Quintet from the Eastman School of Music consists of members Julia Benitez-Nelson (flute), joining the group in the fall of 2023, Ernest Chau (oboe), Scott Shao (clarinet), Kenny Ford (bassoon), and Alina Liebschner (horn), and began as a wind quintet formed at random in the fall of 2021 by their coach, Professor Anne Harrow. Acting as a quintet both in the Eastman chamber music curriculum and independently in their community, the Mousai Quintet is now reaching outside the Rochester area. Recent performances include opening the Eastman Centennial Celebration in the fall of 2021, playing for the community with the Eastman To-Go program, multiple Eastman Honors Chamber Recitals, the inaugural Context Conference in the fall of 2023, and winning the Chamber Music Foundation of New England’s Adult Age Division along with winning the Silver Medal for the Foundation’s Michael Rudyak Memorial Prize and Silver Medal for the Frances Walton Competition in 2024.
The Frances Walton Competition and LMC are generously supported by:
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Listen to 2025 FWC Solo Silver Medalists Dr. Alexander Agate, Piano, and Robbie Darling, Marimba perform on Seattle’s premier classical music station.
Classical KING and Ladies Musical Club
present
Listen Here! or tune into 98.1 FM.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Dr. Alexander Agate began studying piano at 11 years old under Mona Wu DeCesare in his hometown of Moorpark, CA. While he participated in child acting, practiced Tae Kwon Do, writing, and violin and viola, at 16 he decided to pursue classical piano performance and studied with Robert Thies before beginning his collegiate journey at California State University, Northridge under Dmitry Rachmanov. Following CSUN, Alexander received a full-tuition scholarship to the Manhattan School of Music under Andre-Michel Schub, where he completed his Master’s and Doctorate Degrees (for which he was awarded the Helen Cohn award for an Outstanding DMA graduate). He frequents international competitions, having most recently won the recording prize at the 2024 Sicily International Piano Festival and Competition and silver medal at the 2025 Frances Walton Competition, as well as top prizes at the American International Paderewski Competition, and Dallas International Piano Competition. Currently, he balances a private teaching studio, competitions, concertizing, and writing.
Robbie Darling is a multi-instrumentalist performer and educator based in Los Angeles, California. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Percussion Performance from Indiana University Bloomington and is currently pursuing his Master of Music degree at the University of California, Los Angeles. As a performer, Darling’s artistic practice centers on expanding the technical and expressive potential of the marimba, aiming to eliminate physical and musical limitations through innovative performance approaches and a forward-thinking engagement with the instrument’s evolving literature. In recognition of this work, he has received multiple first-place awards at the California Competitive Percussion Festival as both a soloist and chamber ensemble member. He also maintains an active performance schedule with the Music in the Mountains Summer Festival and is committed to community engagement through regular participation in benefit concerts.
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This project is supported in part by Creative West which receives support in part from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
Listen to 2024 FWC Solo Finalist Wenlan Jackson, violin, perform on Seattle’s premier classical music station.
Classical KING and Ladies Musical Club
present
Listen Here! or tune into 98.1 FM.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Born in New York City, violinist Wenlan Jackson has performed on stages across the United States and Europe. Recent engagements are solo performances with the Colburn Orchestra, Burbank Philharmonic, SoCal Philharmonic, San Fernando Valley Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Santa Monica. She was a finalist at the 2024 Frances Walton Competition and has won numerous competitions such as the Mika Hasler Competition, SoCal Phil Young Artist Competition, Hennings-Fischer Young Artist Competition, Colburn Music Academy Concerto Competition, among others as well as competing internationally. Other accomplishments include serving as Associate Concertmaster of the New York String Orchestra and soloing The Storm with the London Symphony Orchestra on a Grammy-winning album. She has performed at many summer festivals including International Holland Music Sessions, Tibor Varga Academy, and Aspen Music Festival. Wenlan is currently completing her Bachelor of Music with Robert Lipsett at the Colburn Conservatory of Music. Beyond performing, Wenlan is also engaged in Colburn’s Center for Innovation and Community Impact, teaching violin to underprivileged children.
The Frances Walton Competition and LMC are generously supported by:
.
Listen to 2024 FWC Small Ensemble Silver Medalists Mousai Quintet perform on Seattle’s premier classical music station.
Classical KING and Ladies Musical Club
present
Listen Here! or tune into 98.1 FM.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
The Mousai Quintet from the Eastman School of Music consists of members Julia Benitez-Nelson (flute), joining the group in the fall of 2023, Ernest Chau (oboe), Scott Shao (clarinet), Kenny Ford (bassoon), and Alina Liebschner (horn), and began as a wind quintet formed at random in the fall of 2021 by their coach, Professor Anne Harrow. Acting as a quintet both in the Eastman chamber music curriculum and independently in their community, the Mousai Quintet is now reaching outside the Rochester area. Recent performances include opening the Eastman Centennial Celebration in the fall of 2021, playing for the community with the Eastman To-Go program, multiple Eastman Honors Chamber Recitals, the inaugural Context Conference in the fall of 2023, and winning the Chamber Music Foundation of New England’s Adult Age Division along with winning the Silver Medal for the Foundation’s Michael Rudyak Memorial Prize and Silver Medal for the Frances Walton Competition in 2024.
The Frances Walton Competition and LMC are generously supported by:
.