The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University

Kristin Bacchiocchi-Stewart

Ms. Bacchiocchi-Stewart is a dedicated teacher, chamber musician, and an enthusiastic advocate for contemporary music. She is a member of TRITONIS (flute, cello, and guitar), and has performed frequently with guitarist Joel Brown, percussionist Michael Zell, I Venti Semplice, the Evolution Contemporary Music Series, and the After Now: Nothing You've Heard Before music series. As an orchestral musician, she has appeared with the Albany Symphony Orchestra, Catskill Symphony, and The Albany Pro Musica. She has given concerts, lectures, workshops and master classes throughout the United States and has also performed in several groups throughout Europe and Japan.

She was a prize winner at the 2002 National Flute Association's Young Artist Competition, a participant in the First Beijing Nicolet International Flute Competition and has appeared as a semi-finalist in the Myrna Brown and Ducrest Young Artist Competitions.

Ms. Bacchiocchi-Stewart has served on the faculties of the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, Frostburg State University, Ithaca College, Schenectady County Community College, the Marina Piccinini International Summer Master Classes, the Savage Mountain Summer Chamber Music Series and Flauto Musicale. Her academic achievements include a Doctoral of Musical Arts Degree from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, a Master of Music Degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and a Bachelor of Music Degree from Ithaca College. She has participated in the Aspen Music Festival, the Colorado College Music Festival, and the Zurich Masterclass series. Her main teachers have been Marina Piccinini, Bradley Garner, Wendy Mehne, Claudia Anderson and Selma Moore.

Brook Schoenwald

Brook Schoenwald is Principal Flutist with the Colorado Symphony. She recently finished a three year fellowship with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Fla. Prior to joining NWS, Schoenwald was Principal Flutist of the Delaware Symphony Orchestra and Acting Principal Flutist of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. She won First Prize in the National Flute Association’s 2009 Young Artist Competition. Schoenwald’s musical journey has taken her all over the world. She has been a featured soloist in Moscow, performed at the Marina Piccinini International Master Classes in Zurich Switzerland, concertized in Brazil and Chile, and performed at Japan’s Suntory Hall. In the United States, Schoenwald has played in many of the most notable venues, including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, The Kimmel Center, The Kennedy Center, Pittsburgh Symphony Hall, Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, and The Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, working with some of the world’s great maestros: Michael Tilson Thomas, James Levine, Manfred Honeck, and Bernard Haitink. Schoenwald was a fellow with the Boston Symphony’s Tanglewood Music Center for four summers, culminating in two summers as a New Fromm Player at the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music. Washington Post critic, Judy Gruber hailed her playing as "brilliantly virtuosic," and Lawrence Johnson of The Miami Herald noted, "Her seasoning and assurance showed in a bravura, personality-plus performance."

Schoenwald is an active performer of contemporary music and is committed to the process of collaborating with up and coming composers. She recently commissioned a flute trio entitled Momentum Studies by George Lam and a flute sonata by Carson Cooman. As a New Fromm Player, Schoenwald was a featured performer at the Elliott Carter Centenary Celebration at Tanglewood in 2008 and had the opportunity to collaborate with the composition fellows resulting in premier performances of their works written at the festival. In 2009, Schoenwald gave the Tanglewood premier of Michael Gandolfi’s Three Pieces for Solo Flute.

Schoenwald earned her Master of Music degree from Carnegie Mellon University, where she studied with Jeanne Baxtresser and Alberto Almarza. She holds undergraduate and performance degrees from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University where she studied with Marina Piccinini. Other major teachers include Mark Sparks, Doriot Anthony Dwyer and Toshiko Kohno.

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, 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.

Araceli Chacon

Born in Sao Jose do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Araceli Chacon began her musical studies at home and then, at age 6, studied at the Carlos Gomes Conservatory of Music. She made her first appearance as a soloist with an orchestra at age 9. In Brazil, Chacon studied with Munira Bauab Nechar and Lydia Alimonda Haller. Over her 40-year career, Chacon has won numerous competitions, received several special awards, and received nearly 30 scholarships, including a full scholarship to The Juilliard School in New York for her doctoral studies, where she studied with Jacob Lateiner and Seymour Lipkin.

Chacon has played with the Symphony Orchestras of Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, and the State of São Paulo; USP Orchestra; Charleston Symphony Orchestra; and the Cape Town Symphony. Throughout her career, she has worked under the musical direction of Omri Hadari, Elliot Carter, Camargo Guarnieri, Claudio Santoro, Bologna Ronaldo, Roberto Minczuk, Paul Zukofsky, and John Cage, among others. In addition, Chacon has toured all over the world, playing solo, with chamber groups, or symphony orchestras in Brazil, United States, Canada, Germany, and South Africa. From 1992 to 2008, she served as a piano and chamber music teacher at the Federal University of Uberlandia (Brazil). Chacon has made several live recordings for radio and television stations in Brazil, Canada, United States, and South Africa.

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. 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.

Guest Lecturers

Steven P. Finley

After having received his bachelor's degree and artist diploma credits from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, Steven P. Finley began a 20-year tenure at Verne Q. Powell Flutes, of which he spent the last five years as Vice-President of Artistic Quality and Design. His primary teachers include Britton Johnson, Bernard Z. Goldberg, Doriot Anthony Dwyer, and James Pappoutsakis.

Finley has performed with the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, Boston Academy of Music, Pittsburgh Symphony, and was formerly assistant principal flutist with the Caracas Philharmonic in Venezuela. He has performed with many great conductors, including Bernstein, Dutoit, Ozawa, and Commissiona.

Finley performs regularly with the Fensgate Chamber Players (Boston), and teaches students at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As founder of FluteFX and repairman extraordinaire, he presents lecture recitals on flutes, flute-design, and flutists, throughout Asia, Europe, and North America.