Current Season Guests, Oboist, Performer
Hailed by the New York Times for her “magnificently sweet tone,” oboist Keve Wilson would skip music theory and history as a kid to practice Irish jigs and reels instead. She recently wrapped up production on Broadway as oboist for the celebrated revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company. Other Broadway shows she’s held chairs in are Carousel with Renee Fleming as well as the 2014 Tony Winner A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. Keve inspires visiting high school band and orchestra students from around the country with her original show Believe NYC — from the Band Room to Broadway. A winner of Concert Artists Guild and solo oboist with the Grammy nominated Absolute Ensemble, she has performed in Amsterdam, Argentina, Austria, Dubai, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Mexico, Panama, New Zealand, Sicily, and South Korea. She plays oboe for Encores! at City Center and recently recorded for Bruce Springsteen and Stone Temple Pilots. Keve spent 6 years in Los Angeles as 2nd oboist of Opera Pacific, recorded for TV commercials and films, and premiered After Hearing Bach by Peter Schickele for oboe and string quartet. During the pandemic, Keve performed numerous shows with her duo partner and childhood friend Rachel Handman along with their band. The group played at the Javits Center every Sunday for vaccinations as well as at Feinstein’s/54 Below, Chelsea Table & Stage, The Culinary Institute of America, and at Mt. Sinai in NYC.
From Hyde Park, NY and a graduate of Eastman School of Music, Keve studied oboe with Richard Killmer, piano with Judith Handman and dance with Elizabeth Clark. She lives in New York City with her husband Kerry and Portuguese water dog Bugsy.
Current Season Guests, Performer, Violinist
Ashley Horne, violinist and native of Los Angeles, has performed professionally around the world. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Ashley is known for his “bright tone and fine overall sense of style” (Dennis Rooney of Strad Magazine.) His artistic integrity and flexibility have placed him in a diverse range of musical experiences, from recitalist at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall to performances with Portishead, Whitney Houston, Natalie Cole, Tony Bennett, and Oliver Lake.
As principal violinist and soloist of The Harlem Chamber Players, performance highlights have included the Sibelius Violin Concerto at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre, the Bernstein Serenade at Merkin Hall, a Harlem walking tour video memoir of Coleridge Taylor-Perkinson, and performances at WQXR’s The Greene Space. He is also a founding member of the newly-formed Harlem Chamber Players String Quartet, which recently performed during the reading of names at the World Trade Center’s Ground Zero 20th year memorial tribute.
Mr. Horne is known for championing works by Black composers, such as Noel DaCosta, George Walker, Nkeiru Okoye, and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson. In 2019, he was a featured soloist in Carnegie Hall’s sold-out event, Two Wings: The Music of Black America in Migration. He appeared in Le Mozart Noir, the PBS documentary about the life of violinist and composer Chevalier de Saint-Georges, and his recordings of Perkinson’s Louisiana Blues Strut (A Cakewalk), Henry Cowell’s Fiddler’s Jig and William Grant Still’s Mother and Child with the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra (Koch International) can be heard on WQXR. Mr. Horne is a member of the American Symphony, and has performed with Brooklyn Philharmonic, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and New York City Opera. He was recently appointed the new Music Director of the Antara Ensemble. Broadway credits include Carousel, Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime, Follies, Chicago, On the Town, and The Producers. Filmgoers can also see Mr. Horne in Eddie Murphy’s Coming to America.
Current Season Guests, Performer, Pianist
Nico Giacalone started his musical career under the direction of Ana Maria Trenchi Bottazzi and Bruno Bottazzi in Manhasset, New York. With the Bottazzi’s he debuted for the first time as a performer in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. He showed promise as a musician when he gave his first solo recital at the age of 10. Nicolas continued his studies at the Aaron Copland School of Music under Proffesor Jeffrey Biegel and Professor Nina Lelchuk where he completed his undergraduate degree in Piano Performance. Following this he studied in Italy with Massimiliano Ferrati and Alessandro Taverna.
He won the Aaron Copland School of Music Concerto Competition and performed Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini with the ACSM Orchestra the following year. He also performed Rhapsody in Blue with the ACSM Wind Ensemble and later, with the Conservatorio di Musica Agostino Stefani Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Ernest Hoetzl and Maestro Roberto Zarpellon in Castelfranco Veneto and Treviso. He has also performed with the Circle Symphony Orchestra.
Nico has performed many times in different halls in New York City, New England, and abroad. He has performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Cami Hall, Steinway Hall, the Goethe Institute, St. Peter’s Church, the National Arts Club, and the House of the Redeemer; in Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts; in Padua, Cittadella, Castelfranco, Treviso and Villa Contarini in Piazzola; in Kötschach-Mauthen, Austria; and Taipei, Taiwan.
From 2014-2019 and 2023, Nico studied at the International Keyboard Institute and Festival. He was awarded a scholarship and studied under pianists Jerome Rose, Jeffrey Swann, Ilya Yakushev, and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet.
Nico has been recording music for the past four years. His most notable releases include the minor Mozart Sonatas, Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 109, Liszt’s Funérailles, and coming soon the Four Ballades of Chopin. His recordings can be found on Spotify and YouTube.
Nico Giacalone has recently won second prize in the International Mozart Competition in Vienna. He also graduated this past year with a Master’s Degree from the Mannes Conservatory and was awarded the Steinway Award for outstanding work as a performer and supportive classmate.
Conductor, Current Season Guests, Performer
Conductor Audrey J. Edelstein brings sensitivity, power, and connection to the podium, championing a compassionate experience between herself, ensemble, and audience. Incorporating a background in classical dance in her conducting, Audrey shapes soundscapes with fluidity and grace in a variety of settings including the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, a fully staged production of Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du soldat, and Musical Passport with the Arcadian Chorale featuring choral pieces in eleven languages and original orchestrations for string quartet. Actively engaged in programming women and underrepresented voices, Audrey blends the richness of the classical tradition with perspectives of the next generation of creators.
Previous positions include Assistant Conductor of the Oratorio Society of Queens and Northwinds Symphonic Band. Audrey is a founding member of the New Conductors Orchestra, a NYC-based civic orchestra committed to showcasing emerging conductors. Audrey earned a MM in Orchestral Conducting at the Aaron Copland School of Music, and a BA at Swarthmore College. Learn more at www.audreyjedelstein.com
Conductor, Current Season Guests, Performer
Michael F. Tietz is the Music Director and Principal Conductor of The Broadway Bach Ensemble, which he founded in 1985. His conducting repertoire spans baroque, classical, romantic and contemporary works. Mike has had the privilege of working with numerous professional musicians as soloists, including members of the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Juilliard String Quartet, Raphael Trio, New York City Opera Orchestra, Orpheus, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and the American Brass Quintet.
Mike started his conducting activities at the University of Pennsylvania Law School Light Opera Company, which he founded in 1978. He is a member of New York’s Village Light Opera Group, where he has served as Music Director, member of the company/chorus, and orchestra member.
An active ’cellist and violist, Mike plays in orchestras and chamber ensembles in the New York City metropolitan area.
