Musicians

The Hot Springs Music Festival pairs world-class mentor musicians from major orchestras, chamber ensembles and conservatory faculties with especially talented pre-professional apprentices–all of whom receive full scholarship plus housing. Mentors and apprentices perform “side by side” in orchestral, chamber, choral, and operatic settings.

Click here for information about Apprentice applications.

2012 Mentor Faculty:

photo Anthony Taylor, Clarinet Mentor

Anthony Taylor, clarinet

ANTHONY TAYLOR (clarinet: anthotaylo@mac.com) joined the University of North Carolina at Greensboro School of Music faculty in 2007. A former Hot Springs Music Festival Apprentice, he is an active performer in solo, chamber, orchestral and jazz. Fall 2010 he presented a paper on his research into John Adams’s clarinet concerto Gnarly Buttons in Bangor, Wales [...]

photo Caen Thomason-Redus, Flute Mentor

Caen Thomason-Redus, flute

CAEN THOMASON-REDUS (flute: caentr@uwm.edu) is the Assistant Professor of Flute at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and enjoys traveling the country performing and presenting master classes. At UWM, Caen is particularly active in the performance and coaching of chamber music through the faculty artist series Chamber Music Milwaukee, the Leonard Sorkin International Institute of Chamber Music, [...]

HSMF Mentor Ensemble in Residence, Cassatt String Quartet

Cassatt String Quartet

Muneko Otani, violin Jennifer Leshnower, violin Michiko Oshima, viola Nicole Johnson, cello The Cassatt String Quartet is Mentor Ensemble in Residence for the 2012 Hot Springs Music Festival. Acclaimed as one of America’s outstanding ensembles, the Manhattan based Cassatt String Quartet has performed throughout North America, Europe, and the Far East, with appearances at New [...]

photo HSMF Recording Engineer Mentor James Tagg

D. James Tagg, recording engineering

D. JAMES TAGG (recording engineering: jamietagg@gmail.com) has been working as an audio engineer since 1998. Skilled with both musical as well as technical aspects of recording music, Mr. Tagg (Jamie) has worked as a recording, sound, and post-production engineer for the following organizations: The Banff Center for the Arts; Setnor School of Music at Syracuse [...]

photo HSMF Trombone Mentor David Jackson

David Lee Jackson, trombone

DAVID LEE JACKSON (trombone: trombone@umich.edu) was recently a featured soloist at several engagements, including performances at Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, Music at Gretna in Mt. Gretna, PA, and with the Ann Arbor Concert Band. Mr. Jackson was also guest soloist with Los Angeles Symphonic Winds both in Los Angeles and at the [...]

photo HSMF Harp Mentor Deborah Fleisher

Deborah Fleisher, harp

DEBORAH FLEISHER (harp: dafleisher@miami.edu) is on the Frost faculty at the University of Miami as lecturer in the department of Instrumental Performance. Deborah began harp studies with her grandmother, Nettie Druzinsky, at age seven. She is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Marilyn Costello and received an Artists Diploma [...]

photo Drew Irvin Violin Mentor

Drew Irvin, violin

ANDREW IRVIN (violin: drewirvin@gmail.com) has a broad range of experience in concert and recital across America and in Europe. Solo appearances include works by Paganini, Bruch, Vivaldi, Korngold, Bach, Mozart, and Dvorak. This upcoming season concerto appearances include performances of Ravel’s Tzigane, Beethoven’s Triple Concerto and Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy. Mr. Irvin has been heard in [...]

HSMF Violin Mentor Jennifer Leshnower

Jennifer Leshnower, violin

Jennifer Leshnower, violinist with the Cassatt String Quartet, coaches chamber music worldwide with recent masterclasses in Ireland at Trinity College and the Royal Irish Academy of Music. In 2006 at the Library of Congress, she had the opportunity to perform on the Library’s “Ward” Stradivari (1700). Ms. Leshnower has concertized with members of the Cleveland, [...]

photo HSMF Bassoon Mentor Jenny Mann

Jenny Mann, bassoon

Jenny Mann (bassoon: jmann@music.ua.edu) is Assistant Professor of Bassoon at The University of Alabama.  She is also Principal Bassoonist with the Tuscaloosa Symphony and an active performer in surrounding orchestras and chamber ensembles. Dr. Mann is a member of the Cavell Reed Trio and Capstone Woodwind Quintet that perform around the country and are committed to [...]

photo HSMF Oboe Mentor Jeseph Salvalaggio

Joseph Salvalaggio, oboe

Canadian oboist Joseph Salvalaggio began playing the oboe at the age of fifteen years old and within a year began training at the Interlochen Arts Academy. Studies followed at Michigan State University, McGill University in Montreal, the University of Toronto, and Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music. His teachers have included Dan Stolper, Theodore Baskin, Normand [...]

Kevin Mauldin Double Bass Mentor

Kevin Mauldin, double bass

KEVIN MAULDIN (double bass: kgm60@aol.com), principal bass wth the Naples Philharmonic, earned a Bachelors of Music degree from Memphis State University and a Masters of Music degree from University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. His teachers have included Frank Proto, John Chiego, Herman Burkhardt, and Peter Rofe. Mr. Mauldin, a native of Memphis, Tennessee, [...]

photo HSMF Arts Admin Mentor Laura Rosenberg

Laura Rosenberg, arts admin.

LAURA ROSENBERG (arts administration: laura@hotmusic.org) has served as Director of Concert Activities for Northwestern University, Director of Production for The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Artistic Advisor and Director of Special Projects for the University Musical Society in Ann Arbor, and Concert Director of San Francisco’s Old First Concerts series. As a festival administrator, [...]

Lynn

Lynn Payette, chorus director

LYNN PAYETTE (chorus director: lynn@hotmusic.org) was appointed Festival Chorus Director in 2011.  A native of Wheaton, Illinois she graduated with performing and academic honors from Illinois Wesleyan and Illinois State Universities. She studied choral conducting with Dr David Nott and has been mentored in conducting and song-leading by Alice Parker. She works extensively with singers [...]

HSMF Percussion Mentor Matt McClung

Matthew McClung, percussion

MATTHEW McCLUNG (percussion: matthew.mcclung@tamucc.edu). Equally at home with orchestral, solo, and chamber music, Dr. Matthew McClung has appeared with a wide variety of prestigious ensembles throughout the United States and abroad. He has performed with the Houston Grand Opera, the Houston Ballet, the Hawaii Opera Theater, the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras [...]

photo HSMF Piano Mentor Michael Gurt

Michael Gurt, collaborative piano

MICHAEL GURT (collaborative piano: mugurt@lsu.edu) is Paula Garvey Manship Distinguished Professor of Piano at Louisiana State University. Professor Gurt is also the head of the piano department at the Sewanee Summer Music Center. He has served as Piano Chair of the Louisiana Music Teachers Association, and he has taught at two summer music seminars held [...]

HSMF Viola Mentor Michiko Oshima

Michiko Oshima, viola

A native of Japan, Ms. Oshima has performed world-wide with the Cassatt and is an active member of the Cantus Quartet and Virtuoso Yokohama. She created ABChamberMusic which has organized twenty chamber music workshops for amateur string players in Japan. As a dedicated music writer, she has written articles for “Sarasate” and “Strings” magazines in [...]

HSMF Violin Mentor Muneko Otani

Muneko Otani, violin

Muneko Otani, violinist with the Cassatt String Quartet, is currently on the faculty of Columbia University, The Mannes College of Music and the Mozarteum Summer Festival in Salzburg. She has performed as a soloist with the Tokyo Chamber Orchestra as well as the Norfolk Festival Orchestra. Ms. Otani has held fellowships at both the Banff [...]

HSMF Cello Mentor Nicole Johnson

Nicole Johnson, cello

Nicole Johnson, cellist with the Cassatt String Quartet, has performed as a recitalist and chamber musician throughout the U.S. and Germany. She has appeared in performances with the Vermeer Quartet on their series in Chicago, on the Composers’ Guild concerts in New York City and at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. Most recently, [...]

photo Peter Bay Music Advisor

Peter Bay, conductor

PETER BAY (conductor), Music Director and Conductor of the Austin Symphony Orchestra in Texas, is the Music Advisor and Conductor of the Hot Springs Music Festival. In addition to his position at the Austin Symphony, which he has held since 1998, Bay is Music Director of the Britt Festival Orchestra in Jacksonville, Oregon and has [...]

Rick Robinson, Mr. CutTime

Rick Robinson, Mr. CutTime

Rick Robinson, Mr. CutTime, will be a Special Mentor at the 2012 Hot Springs Music Festival. Rick Robinson plays and writes personally expressive music driven by 22 years of experience as a bassist for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO). In 2012 he leaves that orchestra to fulfill his artistic potential while drawing new audiences to [...]

photo HSMF Horn Mentor Samuel Compton

Samuel Compton, horn

SAMUEL COMPTON (horn: samcompton@gmail.com) has been principal horn of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra since 1998. He has performed with the Rochester Philharmonic, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Opera, the Colorado Music Festival, the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, the Washington Chamber Symphony at the Kennedy Center and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House [...]

scott moore

Scott Moore, trumpet

SCOTT MOORE is Principal Trumpet of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Chicago Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, and the Toronto Symphony. He has recorded and performed with the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, and with I Fiamminghi, the Orchestra of Flanders. As a soloist, Mr. Moore has appeared with [...]

photo HSMF Production Mentor Sean Kelly

Sean Kelly, production management

SEAN KELLY (production management) has been an Air Force pilot, wellhead geologist, waiter, cook, bartender, bouncer, environmental consultant, and presently serves as an Emergency Response Coordinator for the State of Texas. Raised in a military family, he has lived from Virginia to California to Michigan to Texas. He attended Tulane University in New Orleans. A [...]

HSMF General Director Todd Cranson

Todd Cranson, tuba

TODD CRANSON (tuba: todd@hotmusic.org) is the General Director of the Hot Springs Music Festival and Adjunct Professor of Tuba and Bass Trombone at Henderson State University. In additon to his administrative duties with the Hot Springs Music Festival, Todd teaches and performs as the Music Festival’s Tuba Mentor. He was formerly on the faculty at [...]