The 2025 Participants

Bixby Kennedy

"Bixby Kennedy played with admirable suppleness and beauty of tone. He was unquestionably the star of this performance..." -Allan Kozinn

Admired for his “marvelous ringing tone” (Joseph Dalton, Albany Times Union) Bixby Kennedy is one of the most versatile clarinetists of his generation.  He has performed concerti with orchestras including the Minnesota Orchestra, Houston Symphony, and New Haven Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Bixby has performed throughout the US and Europe in venues including  Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, The Kennedy Center, Marlboro Music Festival, and is the clarinetist for the “explosive” New York City based chamber ensemble Frisson. He has appeared as a guest artist with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and The Knights. As an orchestral musician, Bixby has performed with the MET Opera and NY Philharmonic in addition to regular engagements with the Albany and New Haven Symphony Orchestras. On period instruments, Bixby has performed classical repertoire on original and replica instruments throughout the US with Grand Harmonie Orchestra.  He is a former member of Ensemble Connect and works as a teaching artist throughout the US. As an arranger, his works have been performed by Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Schumann, Frisson, Ensemble Connect, and Symphony in C. He loves traveling, trying new foods, laughing, hiking, and playing

The Cassatt String Quartet


Hailed for its "mighty rapport and relentless commitment," the New York City-based Cassatt String Quartet has performed throughout the world for nearly four decades, with appearances at Alice Tully Hall and Weill Recital Hall; Tanglewood Music Center; the Kennedy Center; Théâtre des Champs-Élysées; Centro National de las Artes; Maeda Hall; and Beijing's Central Conservatory.

Highlights of the Cassatt Quartet's upcoming season include major performances, premieres, and recordings of works by Tania Leon, Victoria Bond, Chen Yi, Mary Kouyoumdjian, Adolphus Hailstork, Joan Tower, Zhou Long, Shirish Korde, Anthony Paul De Ritis, Allen Shawn, and Daniel S. Godfrey; collaborations with Ursula Oppens, David Jackson, Dov Scheindlin, Dominique Eade, Eliot Fisk, Doris Stevenson, Magdalena Baczewska, Haim Avitsur, and Kyo-Shin-An Arts; hometown concerts in the New York area, including performances at Cutting Edge Concerts at Symphony Space, Bethany Arts in Ossining, and Bargemusic in Brooklyn; and appearances at Treetops Chamber Music Society, Maverick Concerts, and Music Mountain. The CSQ's 2023-2024 teaching schedule includes masterclasses and residencies at Texas Tech University, University of Texas Permian Basin, College of the Holy Cross, and Columbia University's Music Department and Office of the Core Curriculum.

The Quartet's prolific discography - featured three times in Alex Ross's "10 Best Classical Recordings" column in The New Yorker - includes over forty recordings, for the Koch, Naxos, New World, Point, CRI, Tzadik, and Albany labels. The CSQ's playing has been featured on NPR's "Performance Today," WGBH Boston, WQXR and WNYC of New York, Canada's CBC Radio, and Radio France.

The Cassatts are devoted to nurturing young musicians, and have given classes at Columbia, Cornell, Princeton, and Syracuse Universities; the University of Pennsylvania and Bard Conservatory; the American Academy in Rome and the Toho School in Tokyo; and the Bowdoin International Music Festival. The CSQ is in residence annually at the Seal Bay Festival of American Chamber Music in Vinalhaven, Maine; and at Cassatt in the Basin!, an educational residency in West Texas.

Named for the great Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt.

Please visit the Cassatt String Quartet website for more information:

http://www.cassattquartet.com

Doris Stevenson

Doris Stevenson has won lavish praise from critics and public alike in performances around the world. She has soloed with the Boston Pops, played at Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Salle Pleyel in Paris, Sala de Musica Arango in Bogota, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Her acute sensitivity and musicianship have made her a sought-after partner with some of the leading lights in string playing. She has performed with Gregor Piatigorsky, Ruggiero Ricci and Paul Tortelier, great players of the past. Early in her career she was invited by Heifetz and Piatigorsky to perform with them in their chamber concerts. She was pianist for the cello master classes of Piatigorsky, who described her as “an artist of the highest order.” The list of distinguished artists she has performed with includes cellists Andre Navarra, Leslie Parnas and Gary Hoffman, violinists Charles Castleman and Elmar Olivera, violists Walter Trampler and Paul Neubauer and singers Kaaren Erickson and Catherine Malfitano. She is a founding member of the Sitka Summer Music Festival in Alaska and has toured throughout that state, playing in many remote Native Alaskan communities. She has participated in many chamber music festivals and has performed in 48 of the 50 states.She  recently performed with cellist Zuill Bailey at the Phillips Gallery in Washington D.C., at Bargemusic in New York and at Smith College. She plays a score of outreach concerts each season for the Piatigorsky Foundation in schools, libraries, prisons, and remote communities, bringing live classical music with commentary to people who wouldn’t otherwise hear it.

Doris Stevenson is deeply committed to performing new music. In the last three years she has played in concert the works of twenty living composers. She was the first woman to perform Frederick Rzewski’s masterpiece, De Profundis  for speaking pianist, which she brought to New York City to perform as a Williams in New York concert. Her many recordings include six major works by David Kechley and two by Ileana Velazquez-Perez, the Saint Saens violin sonatas with Andres Cardenes, the complete Mendelssohn cello works with Jeffrey Solow, and the Brahms Sonatas with cellist Nathaniel Rosen. A CD of Stravinsky rarities with violinist Mark Peskanov received a Grammy nomination. Miss Stevenson taught for ten years at the University of Southern California and has been Lyell B. Clay Artist in Residence at Williams College since 1987. George Lopez

The Robert Beckwith Artist-in-Residence at Bowdoin College, George Lopez, pianist and conductor, has been a dynamic performer, sought-after pedagogue, and engaging lecturer for over 30 years. Known for his "...kaleidoscopic colors and clarity of conception..." (Los Angeles Times) in the standard repertoire as well as being a champion of newly written works, Mr. Lopez gave a highly acclaimed solo recital debut at the renowned Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and was lauded as “… authentic and memorable …” by the Nederlands Dagblad for his interpretation of Bach’s Goldberg Variations along with all Twenty-Four Preludes of Chopin. He performed the complete sonatas of Mozart, all five Piano Concertos of Beethoven, the complete Etude-Tableaux of Rachmaninoff, all 27 Etudes and the Four Ballades of Chopin, and recently did the entire 4-volume set of Bach’s Klavierubungen, which he performed on organ, harpsichord, and piano.

Mr. Lopez performs worldwide as a soloist in major cities throughout Europe, Australia, Japan, Mexico, Central and South America. His extensive performances cover most major U.S. cities, including New York’s Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie, Paul Hall at the Juilliard School, Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Ambassador Hall in Los Angeles, the Shao Lin Arts Center in Rockport, Massachusetts, The Cleveland Art Museum, Harvard University, and Tanglewood. After his performance at Lincoln Center, the composer Lowell Liebermann described the performance of his work as “… exciting and decisive!”

A featured soloist at many international music festivals throughout America, Europe, and other continents, Mr. Lopez performed at the renowned Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Girona Internacional Festival de Musica in Spain, the Kowmung Festival just outside Sydney, Australia, Festivale d’Internazionale Solisti e Musica da Camera in Umbria, Italy, and the Latin-American music festival Cubadisco in Havana, Cuba. He performed as guest soloist with the National Symphony of São Paolo in Brazil, Rose Hall in Osaka, Asahi Hall in Tokyo, and appeared as guest soloist and conductor with the New Hampshire Symphony in J. S. Bach’s Keyboard Concerto in D minor. Mr. Lopez has been a regular guest artist with renowned chamber ensembles, including the Emerson, Carpe Diem, Rainier, Skyros, and Ying Quartets. He collaborates in recording and outreach projects with members of major symphony orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, The Met Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and The New World Symphony. Mr. Lopez recorded Italian composer Romeo Melloni’s Piano Concerto No. 1 dedicated to him with the acclaimed Prague Chamber Orchestra in the former Czech Republic and premiered a new Piano Concerto by the Indo-American composer Dr. Vineet Shende. Mr. Lopez has given radio performances and interviews on Cuban Salon music, the Music of Sherlock Holmes, and all 27 Etudes of Chopin. His interdisciplinary and multi-cultural “Music in the Museum” series at Bowdoin College consistently sells out to audiences who enjoy his creative and engaging lecture-recitals on the relationship of music, art, and its cultural history.

As part of the dynamic DUO MUNDI GEORGE & GULI with his partner in life and music, Gulimina Mahamuti, Mr. Lopez performs two piano and four hand one piano works throughout the globe, focusing on immigrant and underrepresented composers from Asia, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East.
Mr. Lopez is an acclaimed public speaker at regional, national, and international conferences throughout the United States and Europe, including the MTNA, NCKP, and EPTA conferences in recent years. He frequently gives masterclasses throughout North America, Latin America, and Europe at prestigious institutions, such as the Manhattan School in New York, Berkeley University, Boston University, the Faber Institute, the International Keyboard Odyssiad Festival, The Music Institute of Chicago, and Steinway Hall. Mr. Lopez received First Prize for the Diplome Superieure at the renowned Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris and the distinguished Uitvorend Musicus degree from the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam. As the artistic director and conductor of the Bowdoin College Symphony Orchestra, he leads one of the most dynamic all-student symphonic programs in the New England region.

Peter Weitzner

Peter Weitzner, a graduate of the Juilliard School, has performed with Solisti New York, the Jupiter Symphony, EOS Ensemble, SONYC, Philharmonia Virtuosi, Stamford Symphony, Musicians Accord, and the New Jersey Symphony. As soloist, he has appeared with the Baltimore Symphony and performed the New York premiere of Sheila Silver’s Chant for bass and piano. Mr. Weitzner has been a frequent participant at international music festivals including Mostly Mozart, OK Mozart, Cape May, Festival of the Hamptons, Bratislava Music Festival, and the Bruckner Festival in Linz, Austria.

An avid chamber musician, Mr. Weitzner is currently the curator and host of the BPL Chamber Players in residence at the Central branch (Grand Army Plaza) of the Brooklyn Public Library. He has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Orion, Ens?, Daedalus and Clarosa Quartets, Trio Solisti, New York Chamber Ensemble, Yale at Norfolk, Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival, New York Philomusica, Garden City Chamber Music Society, Sherman Chamber Ensemble and the Berkshire Bach Society.

He has also performed with the dance companies of Lar Lubovitch and David Parsons as well as Merce Cunningham's 80th birthday celebration at the Lincoln Center Festival in the New York premiere of Biped. He also participated in a performance at NJPAC (NJ Performing Arts Center) with the re-emerging Alice Coltrane shortly before her passing. For ten years Mr. Weitzner toured the world as a member of the Giora Feidman Trio. In the spring of 2009, he was invited to become a member of the Quincy Jones Musiq Consortium, an arts education advocacy group comprised of arts related non-profits, musicians and educators.

His work can be heard on the Nonesuch, Albany, Pro Gloria Musicae, New World Records, Musical Heritage Society, Delos, Grenadilla, and Berkshire Bach Society record labels. He has also produced recordings of the Brandenburg Concerti with the Berkshire Bach Society and the critically acclaimed complete flute music of J.S. Bach with flutist Susan Rotholz and Kenneth Cooper, fortepiano, released by Bridge Records. A CD of American flute music with Susan Rotholz and pianist, Margaret Kampmeier has also been released by Bridge. He is also a frequent contributor of concert recordings to NPR’s Performance Today.

Joan Tower (non resident)

Joan Tower

Ileana Velazquez

Cuban born composer Ileana Perez Velazquez music has been heard in concerts and international festivals in Cuba, the United States, and throughout Central and South America, Europe, and China. Recent performances of her music include the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music summer 2024, Ensemble Connect at Carnegie Hall in January 2025, the LA Philharmonic Pan-american New Music at Walt Disney Hall in 2024, Miranda Cuckson at the Cutting Edge Concert Symphony Space and Momenta Quartet at Americas Society (NYC) in 2023. Albany Records, Innova, and Urlicht have released recordings of her music. She received a Cintas Fellowship and earned her DMA degree in music composition from IU Bloomington, IN and a Masters in Electronic Music from Dartmouth College. She is a Professor of Music Composition and Electronic Music at Williams College.

Mari Kimura

Mari Kimura’s groundbreaking contributions to music and technology have earned her numerous prestigious accolades, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Fromm Commission Award from Harvard, and a residency at IRCAM in Paris. The Carnegie Corporation honored her as an Immigrant: Pride of America, and in 2025, she received the SEAMUS Award for lifetime achievement in electroacoustic music.

Hailed by The New York Times as a “virtuoso playing at the edge,” Kimura is renowned for her mastery of subharmonics, a revolutionary bowing technique enabling violinists to produce pitches an octave below the instrument’s lowest string without retuning. Her compositions explore the intersection of motion-sensor technology and contemporary music, with commissions from leading artists and ensembles such as Aiyun Huang, Decipher Ensemble, and Harvard New Music Ensemble.

As a performer, Kimura has premiered works by John Adams, Luciano Berio, and Tania León, and performed with orchestras including the Hamburg Symphony and Tokyo Symphony. An acclaimed improviser, she has collaborated with Henry Kaiser, Elliott Sharp, and Jim O’Rourke. Her latest solo improvisation album, MUGETSU (2024), was praised by Elliott Sharp: “Perhaps we can add the title of ‘architect’ to Mari’s list of talents.”

In 2020, Kimura commercialized MUGIC®, a compact Wi-Fi motion sensor designed for wearable technology and artistic expression. Now used at leading institutions such as Harvard University, UC Berkeley, and The Juilliard School, MUGIC® has been showcased at major venues, including The Venice Biennale and Lincoln Center. During the COVID-19 shutdown, she earned an MBA from the Merage School of Business at UC Irvine and was nominated for the Entrepreneur Leader of the Year award, and eared a Certificate of Recognition from the U.S. House of Representatives and the California Legislature Assembly.

A faculty member at The Juilliard School since 1998, Kimura was appointed Professor of Music at UC Irvine in 2017, where she teaches in the Integrated Composition, Improvisation, and Technology (ICIT) program.  More at mugicmotion.com.

Daniel S. Godfrey

Daniel Strong Godfrey (b. 1949) has earned awards and commissions from the J. S. Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Fromm Music Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Bogliasco Foundation, the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, and the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, among many others. His music has been performed by soloists, chamber ensembles and orchestras throughout the U.S. and abroad. He is founder and co-director of the Seal Bay Festival of American Chamber Music (on the Maine coast) and is co-author (with the late Elliott Schwartz) of Music Since 1945, published by Schirmer Books.

Godfrey's works have been recorded on Albany, CRI, GM, Innova, Klavier, Koch, UK Light and Mark compact disks. His music is available through publishers Carl Fischer and G. Schirmer.

Godfrey received his graduate degrees in composition from Yale University and the University of Iowa. He is currently Professor and Chair in the Department of Music at Northeastern University's College or Arts, Media and Design (Boston, Massachusetts). Prior to his recent appointment at Northeastern, Godfrey was Professor of Music Composition, Theory and History at Syracuse University's Setnor School of Music, and he has also held guest faculty appointments in composition at the Eastman School of Music and the Indiana University School of Music.

Composer Institute

Visual Artist

Kitty Wales

Kitty Wales received an MFA in Sculpture from the University of Arizona and a BFA in Sculpture and Art Education from Boston University. She has been awarded residencies in Berlin and Kleinsassen Germany, Baku Azerbaijan, and the Isle of Rhum, Scotland.
Wales has taught sculpture and drawing at the College and University level including as Assistant Professor and Senior Lecturer in Sculpture at Boston University for over 25 years.

She lives and works in Belfast, Maine and Vinalhaven, Maine.