Guest Artist Bios

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.

Colette Valentine

Pianist Colette Valentine, one of the most active professional collaborative pianists in the United States, joined the faculty of the newly created Collaborative Piano Department at the University of Texas at Austin's Butler School of Music in the fall of 2008. She completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance at Stony Brook University in New York with Gilbert Kalish after earning Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the University of Maryland where she studied with Nelita True. From 2000-2008 she was on faculty at Long Island University, C.W. Post Campus as an instrumental repertoire coach and faculty recital partner. She was also a faculty member at New Jersey City University from 1996-2008 where, in addition to coaching students and performing with faculty and guest artists, she taught courses in The Application of Theory in Performance and The Art of Accompanying. In the summers, she joins other professional colleagues as a coach at the Interlochen Adult Chamber Music Camp in Michigan.

Critically hailed for her "clean, sparkling technique" (Salt Lake Tribune) and for her "consummate skill and musicianship" (Classical New Jersey), Colette Valentine has performed in such important venues as Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street Y, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Kennedy Center, the Library of Congress, the Phillips Collection, the Corcoran Gallery, and internationally in Paris, Zurich, Tokyo, Seoul, and Hong Kong. As pianist of the Ecco Trio, praised by the Washington Post for capturing "the intimacy of chamber music at its best", she has toured the United States and Japan. She has also collaborated in chamber concerts with the New York Philharmonic Winds, St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, the Washington Chamber Society, the Left Bank Concert Society, the Grand Teton Music Festival and the Rembrandt Chamber players, among others. For many years, she has been official staff pianist for the William Kapell International Piano Competition, the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, the Washington International Competition for Strings, and the National Flute Association National Convention. She has also served in that capacity for the Leonard Rose International Cello Competition, the Marian Anderson International Vocal Competition, and the Music Teachers National Association Competitions. She has recorded for the Albany, fontec, Antara, Well-Tempered and CRI labels.

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.