EK Duo performs haunting avant-chamber music with folkloric, minimalist, electronic and noise elements. Bassoonist Rachael Elliott and percussionist Thomas Kozumplik create spacious sound-worlds colored by the steel drum, marimba, reedy bassoon, kalimba, electronics, and more.

Dr. Lara Mitofsky Neuss is an educator, clarinetist, and recording engineer and she joined SUNY Oneonta’s faculty in 2023 as Lecturer in Music and Music Industry. Dr. Mitofsky Neuss has taught classes across the US and Sweden on topics in performance, audio engineering, music business, and improvisation. Prior to joining the faculty at SUNY Oneonta, she taught music technology and general music courses at Montclair State University and Essex County College. In addition to her work in higher education, Dr. Mitofsky Neuss is a recording engineer and the Digital Marketing Coordinator for Arts Laureate and the Tonsehen Record Label. As a clarinetist, recent performances and premieres have brought her to the International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest, Third Practice Electroacoustic Festival, and Americans for the Arts

After receiving an award with great distinction from the Conservatoire de musique de Québec, Mélanie Bourassa perfected her skills in Europe and in USA. She is now working with the Quebec Symphony, the Metropolitain Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony and the Violons du Roy, in addition to performing across Canada and founder of the
Canadian Bass Clarinet Association and the Center for Excellence for research in Bass Clarinet in Canada.

This clarinetist and bass clarinetist has been teaching at the Conservatoire de Rimouski for several years and she is teaching at Laval University and Cegep de Ste-Foy.
She is a scholarship holder from the Association des anciens du conservatoire de musique de Québec, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Domaine Forget and the Guild of Musicians (AFM). She also won first place in the Canadian Chamber Music Competition as well as an Opus Award in 2015 and the Best Show of the Year Award at the ADISQ Gala for Mary Poppins and a Grammy Award with les Violons du Roy.
She recorded under Atma Label and commissioned many works for clarinet and bass clarinet ensemble, all included in her catalogue of repertoire : www.accb.ca .

Cameron Hewes is a clarinetist, artist, and entrepreneur based in Massachusetts. As a soloist, he has played concerti with the Lynn Philharmonia and the Crane Symphony Orchestra. Cameron has also performed in venues including New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, Boston's Symphony Hall, and the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. He studied clarinet with Jon Manasse, Julianne Kirk Doyle, Richard Shaughnessy, and Elizabeth Leehey. In the year 2020, Cameron established CAMco, a sheet music store dedicated to organizing, preserving, and curating the clarinet family’s repertoire. When the business numbers on the screen start to blur together, he finds solace in the art of traditional printmaking.

Bonnie McAlvin is a New York City-based flutist and composer who makes unique use of a flute technique called multiphonics, where the flute produces more than one pitch at a time. Her music explores (and moves) the stubborn limits of this difficult technique; she strives to use the multiphonics to convey harmony and voice-leading. She is cited for her work in this field in the Dictionary for the Modern Flutist, and has toured internationally, presenting concerts and workshops on the technique for music programs and flute associations. Bonnie teaches at Adelphi University in Garden City, NY, and is currently working toward an album devoted to solo multiphonic flute music, which will be produced by Moveable Doors.

Ashley Mendeke is a musician and photographer living in New York City. Noted for her multifaceted work, Ashley has performed throughout the Hudson Valley and NYC communities, for nationally-televised broadcasts on ABC and NBC, and local NYC media outlets.In her current role as piccolo player with the West Point Band, Ashley performs in traditional ceremonies that honor the history and rich musical heritage of West Point and the Tri-State region. Recently, she received first prize in the 2021 Walfrid Kujala International Piccolo Competition, commended for a “gorgeous singing-like tone and resonance that hugged her sound.” Prior to achieving her current position (2013), Ashley toured with the American Wind Symphony Orchestra and was a freelance flutist and instructor in Dallas, Texas. Wanting to expand her creativity and storytelling, Ashley picked up photography and videography in 2015. She enjoys photographing concerts as well as portraits. With an appreciation for documentary style, she aims to calibrate the visual aesthetic to the personality of the performer/subject. Ashley received bachelor’s degrees in Flute Performance and Music Education while studying with Mary Karen Clardy at the University of North Texas, where she was named the 2010-11 Presser Scholar. Her mentors also include Bart Feller, Mindy Kaufman, Keith Underwood, and Sonya Mendeke (her mother), visual artist and art director.

Alexandra Shatalova Prior is Acting Principal Oboe of the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra and Principal Oboe of the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra. At Emory University, Alexandra instructs oboe and chamber music as an Artist Affiliate and is Executive and Managing Director of the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta. Her international performing career has included concerts with the National Jeugd Orkest of the Netherlands, the St. Petersburg Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Restoration in venues such as the Berlin Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Musiekgebouw, Graz Stefaniensaal, and the Mariinsky Theater.

Alexandra received her doctorate, masters, and Arts Leadership Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Richard Killmer, and her undergraduate degree at the SUNY Potsdam Crane School of Music, studying with Anna Hendrickson. She has been on faculty at the University of West Georgia, Nazareth College, the SUNY Potsdam Crane School of Music and the Eastman Community Music School, where she received the 2012 Jack L. Frank Award for Excellence in Teaching.

ARTIST BIO

ARTIST BIO