Sophia Han

Violin, Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola, Southeast Missouri State University

Described by the Classical Voices of North Carolina as "a polished [and] fully professional performer," violinist Sophia Han is the concertmaster and assistant professor of upper strings at Southeast Missouri State University. A versatile musician, Han is equally comfortable in classical and popular music settings having performed as guest soloist with orchestras across the U.S. as well as appearing on tour with artists such as Michael Bublé, and STARSET. Currently serving as the assistant concertmaster of Paducah Symphony Orchestra, Han has also appeared as the assistant concertmaster of Tallahassee Symphony, concertmaster of the 2016 Lake Tahoe Music Festival Orchestra, and is in demand as an adjudicator. With degrees from Florida State University (D.M.), University of Michigan (M.M.), and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (B.M.), Han's principal teachers include Corinne Stillwell, Aaron Berofsky, and the late Richard Luby, and has participated in masterclasses with Gil Shaham, Jennifer Koh, and Patinka Kopec, among others.

Jonathan Kampfe

Cellist, STARSET

Unconventional; atypical; outside-the-box; all words that could easily describe Jonathan Kampfe’s career path. As cellist for internationally touring rock band, STARSET, Kampfe utilizes vast performance and production experience to bring the rich string arrangements of David Davidson and Igor Khoroshev to life. Jonathan studied cello with Dr. Marc Moskowitz (a protégé of Janos Starker) at the University of Toledo and Dr. Alan M. Smith at Bowling Green State University. He also studied double bass with professor Jeff Halsey (BGSU) and Jena Huebner of Columbus Symphony. Following his undergraduate studies, Kampfe co-founded southern rock group, Phillip Fox Band, playing bass guitar, double bass, and singing backing vocals. He co-produced the band’s two albums featuring his string and horn arrangements. Jonathan has performed with The Ohio Light Opera, Westerville Symphony, and given several chamber performances on the Candle Light Concert Series at Bruton Parish in Williamsburg, Virginia. In addition to his own studio, Jonathan served as chamber ensemble and section coach for the Williamsburg Youth Orchestra. Between tours with STARSET, Jonathan records for various artists in Columbus, Ohio, where he and his family currently live.

Galen Dean Peiskee

Piano, Young-Peiskee Flute-Piano Duo and Cerulean Trio

Galen Dean Peiskee has established a multifaceted career as an accomplished chamber musician, soloist, orchestral pianist, choral accompanist, and vocal coach. He has performed all over the United States, as well as throughout the world in Austria, Poland, Italy, Greece, Spain, Cuba, and Bolivia. Dean has enjoyed premiering works by Gregory Wanamaker, Piotr Szewczyk, Paul Richards, Roger Zare, and Timothy Hoekman.

He is a founding member of both the Young-Peiskee Flute-Piano Duo and the Cerulean Trio, finalists in the 2016 Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition. He has performed as a member of the Bold City Contemporary Ensemble, the Emerald Trio, Trio Vivo, and Parlance Vocal Ensemble. Dean has performed as a soloist with the Brazos Chamber Orchestra multiple times and was the pianist for the Singing Girls of Texas for five years. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in May 2017, performing music of Timothy Hoekman in Weill Recital Hall. Dean’s playing can be heard with members of the Bold City Contemporary Ensemble on the album “Bliss Point,” published by Navona Records, and with clarinetist Jackie Glazier on the album “Magic Forest Scenes,” due to be published summer 2019 by Centaur Records.

Dean has a Doctor of Music in collaborative piano from Florida State University where he earned his Master of Music in accompanying. He also has an Artist Diploma from Texas Christian University, where he earned his Bachelor of Music in piano performance, and an Associate of Music from Kilgore College. His teachers have included Timothy Hoekman, Read Gainsford, José Feghali, John Owings, and Sandra Siler.

Dr. Stanley Pelkey

Director, School of Music at University of Kentucky

Musicologist and historian Stan Pelkey currently serves as director of the School of Music at the University of Kentucky. A graduate of the University of Rochester, he completed his M.A. and Ph.D. in historical musicology at the Eastman School of Music, as well as his M.A. in European history. During the past twenty years, he has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in music history and theory, film music, world music, and music entrepreneurship. Pelkey previously served as dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, New York, and as associate dean of Engagement and Entrepreneurship in Florida State University’s College of Music.

Pelkey researches and writes about American and British film and television music, Handel reception history, and the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams. He was the 2009 recipient of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Fellowship and has received support from the American Handel Society and London Handel Institute. His publications on film and television music include his edited collection, Anxiety Muted: American Film Music in a Suburban Age (Oxford University Press, 2014), which a reviewer in "Notes" called “necessary reading” in the field and his chapter “a model for future scholars;” entries for Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia (ABC-CLIO, 2011), including the article on film music; his chapter, “Still Flyin’? Conventions, Reversals, and Musical Meaning in Firefly” in Buffy, Ballads, and Bad Guys Who Sing: Music in the Worlds of Joss Whedon (Scarecrow Press, 2010); a chapter on music and Cold War politics in Doctor Who: “The Gunfighters” for Relocating the Sounds of the Western (Ashgate, forthcoming); and his essay “Dexter at Home in Suburbia: Domesticated Monster/Ideal Father,” in NEPCA 2017: Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Northeast Popular Culture Association (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, forthcoming).

Pelkey’s earlier publications on British music include chapters in his edited collection, Music and History: Bridging the Disciplines (University of Mississippi Press, 2005) and several other journal articles and encyclopedia entries. He has completed numerous book reviews for The American Historical Review, Music Reference Services Quarterly, the Bulletin of the Society of American Music, and Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, and he has given dozens of presentations at the regional, national, and international conferences of professional organizations and societies, such as the American Historical Association, the Popular Culture Association, the College Music Society, the North American British Music Studies Association, the American Musicological Society, the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, and Film and History.

Pelkey remains active as a pianist and composer and has served as director of music for churches in New York, Michigan, Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Florida. His organ teachers have included Russell Saunders, Michael Farris, Katie Pardee, Karl Schrock, and Mark Schell. He blogs and curates a series of podcasts featuring his original music at stanpelkey.com.

Zach Stern

Saxophone, Donald Sinta Quartet

Zach Stern enjoys a career as a saxophone soloist, chamber musician, and educator. Performances have taken him all over the world, including to such venues as Carnegie Hall, Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. As both a soloist and chamber musician, Zach has received top prizes at many of the country's most respected competitions including the M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition, the Concert Artists Guild Competition, the Fischoff and Coleman Chamber Music Competitions, the University of Michigan Concerto Competition, and the Young Texas Artists Competition. He has performed as a featured soloist with the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra, the French Republican Guard Band, the Dallas Winds, the DuPage Symphony Orchestra, the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, and the South Oakland Concert Band (MI).

Zach maintains a private studio while also teaching at the Eastman Community Music School in Rochester, NY. He is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts in saxophone performance and literature at the Eastman School of Music with professor Chien-Kwan Lin. Zach also serves as a teaching assistant for the Eastman saxophone studio.

Prior to his studies at Eastman, Zach earned his Master of Music and his Bachelor of Music in saxophone performance and music education at the University of Michigan, where he served as the teaching assistant to professor Donald Sinta and received the Laurence Teal Scholarship Award. He has also studied with Dr. Scott Plugge.

Zach has presented master classes at Columbus State University, SUNY-Potsdam Crane School of Music, Wright State University, the University of Miami Frost School of Music, the Conservatory of Music of the Balearic Islands, Grand Valley State University, Brevard Music Center, as well as other universities, high schools, and middle schools around the country. He has also served as saxophone instructor at the Expressions Music Academy in Novi, MI.

He is a Conn-Selmer Artist and performs exclusively on Selmer-Paris saxophones and mouthpieces.