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Guest Artist Bios
Oluwafemi Oladeji
Born in London to Nigerian parents, Oluwafemi Oladeji, has had an eclectic past, ranging from modeling and commercial work, to film actor and singer for the Soultans, a London-based soul/pop touring group. While on the road with his fellow artists, Oladeji began to consciously combine different elements from various disciplines to help find a path to centering and relaxing the body and gaining greater postural self-awareness. From this, CYB (Control Your Breath) was born: a combination of wing chun, Tiger Crane, Pilates, shiatsu, and Shaolin kung fu (Gidigbo, tai chi, Gi Gong). Since moving to Vienna, Oladeji has continued his work in a variety of fields, as a licensed Shiatsu therapist in a private medical clinic in the heart of Vienna and as a fitness and Pilates instructor at Holmes Place and the John Harris Club.
Emily Skala
Principal flutist of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra since 1988, Emily Skala received her bachelor of music with honors from the Eastman School of Music in 1983. Within five years of graduation, she was already affiliated with six major American orchestras: the Rochester Philharmonic, the San Diego Symphony, the North Carolina Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
Skala regularly appears as a soloist and recitalist in the Mid-Atlantic and Mid-West regions, has performed at the National Flute Associations’ Annual Conventions, and has performed at many of the world’s most prestigious music festivals, Osaka, Edinburgh, Aspen, Hollywood Bowl, Wolf Trap, and Great Woods. Skala joined the faculty of the Peabody Institute of Music of Johns Hopkins University in 1989, and in 1991, she was awarded the Jean Frederic Perenoud Prize at the Second Vienna International Competition.
As a performer, Skala has been described by critics as imaginative and extraordinarily talented, possessing a lyrical eloquence of phrase and a beautiful, powerful sound in a class by itself, as well as having a brilliant technique and a virtuoso’s confidence; “a genuine charmer with unimpeachable musical taste
Her debut CD, Voices Through Time, music for flute and piano by Brahms and Schubert, with Grammy-winning producer Adam Abeshouse and internationally acclaimed pianist, Norman Krieger, was released in May of 2002 by Summit Records.
Laurie Sokoloff
Laurie Sokoloff was born into one of Philadelphia’s leading musical families. Both her parents were on the piano faculty of the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music. At age 14, she was accepted into the program at the Curtis Institute, where she studied with William Kincaid, former principal flutist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. By the time she graduated at age 18, she was already the contracted piccoloist with Philadelphia’s two opera companies and the Pennsylvania Ballet. During the years spent in Philadelphia following her graduation, Sokoloff performed in chamber music recitals with cellist Jay Humestan and pianist Peter Serkin, soloed with the Philadelphia Orchestra (Chaminade Flute Concerto), and played numerous recitals with her father, pianist Vladimir Sokoloff and gave chamber music recitals for the Bay Chamber Concerts in Rockport, Maine.
Sokoloff has been the solo piccoloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra since 1969, featuring concerti by Vivaldi and Liebermann. She has given piccolo master classes at the Peabody Conservatory and the Curtis Institute of Music and currently teaches flute and piccolo at Peabody. For several years, she was the chairperson of the National Flute Association’s Piccolo Committee and coordinator of their Piccolo Artist Competition. In the summer of 2000, she premiered a piece written for her by Michael Daugherty at the National Flute Association Convention.
Colette Valentine
Pianist Colette Valentine, hailed for her “clean, sparkling technique” (Salt Lake Tribune) and for her “consummate skill and musicianship” (Classical New Jersey), has performed extensively throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe in settings including New York City’s Merkin Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall; the Corcoran and National Galleries, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; Suntory Hall and Casals Hall in Tokyo; Hoam Hall in Seoul; and the Louvre in Paris. She has recently appeared as concerto soloist with the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra, the North Shore Symphony Orchestra, the Antara Chamber Orchestra, and the New Jersey City University Symphony Orchestra, and has been a guest artist with the Left Bank Concert Society, Meet the Composer, St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, and at the Grand Teton Music Festival.
As a free-lance musician in New York City, Ms. Valentine performs with singers and instrumentalists of every variety, and has collaborated on recordings for the Albany, Antara, CRI, fontec, and Well-Tempered labels. Her ensemble, Ecco Trio, praised by The Washington Post for capturing “the intimacy of chamber music at its best,” has repeatedly toured the United States and Japan to critical acclaim. She serves as assisting pianist for numerous national and international competitions and masterclasses, including the Washington International String Competition, Young Concert Artists, Concert Artists Guild, and the William Kapell International Piano Competition, and is on the faculties of Long Island University/C.W. Post Campus, New Jersey City University, and the Interlochen Summer Chamber Music Conference. Ms. Valentine received BM and MM degrees from the University of Maryland with Dr. Nelita True, and a DMA from Stony Brook University with Gilbert Kalish.
