Ellen Tenenbaum (Founder)
Ellen Tenenbaum studies piano with Leander Bien, and at the Levine School in Washington DC, in the Advanced Piano Performance course. Ellen performs in churches, libraries, senior settings, community centers, embassies, Strathmore Mansion, and Georgetown University Hospital. She gives concerts and lecture-recitals professionally as well as for benefits and charitable events. Her concerts take place throughout the mid-Atlantic area and, recently, to California and other western states. Ellen's career in music performance follows a professional career as a study director at Westat, the survey research and program evaluation firm in Rockville. She wrote the book The Politics of Mistrust, with Aaron Wildavsky. Her husband Bernard is an energy consultant at the World Bank, and they have 3 grown children and 4 grandchildren.
Felicia Weiss
Felicia Weiss at age 11 was the winner of the prestigious Enthusiasm for Music award at the Bella Shumiatcher School of Music. Maybe "prestigious" is a bit of an exaggeration, but she does continue exhibiting her enthusiasm for music on a daily basis, playing and practicing every free minute she gets. She won the Misbin Chamber Music Competition at the Levine School and has performed on the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center and the National Gallery of Art. Currently, she studies with Myriam Avalos, attends the wonderful AlpenKammerMusik festival in Austria every summer, and works at the World Bank.
Roger Coleman
After rejecting several instruments during grade school, Roger Coleman was first drawn to music through the guitar, which he began at age 12. He began piano studies at 19, studying with Arthur Cunningham in Nyack, NY. One year later he was accepted into the music program at SUNY Buffalo under the tutelage of Stephen Manes, receiving a BA and BFA in Music concurrently. Continuing studies at the University of Maryland with Stewart Gordon, Roger completed the Master of Music program. Currently he is a professor of music at Montgomery College, teaching piano, guitar, theory and music history courses. In 2015 he completed an e-book on music theory which is the text for his Intro to Theory course. Besides classical piano, Roger plays keyboard and guitar with several local Big Band Jazz and Blues/Rock bands.
Francesca Hurst
Dynamic and engaging, pianist Francesca Hurst delights audiences with
a mix of classical and contemporary music. Listeners have described
her playing as “moving and compelling” and “powerful yet sensitive”.
Classically trained, she fell into the new music scene in 2013, when a
last-minute gig with Great Noise Ensemble turned into a decade-long
engagement as their pianist. At ease with a wide range of repertoire,
she makes sense of the music regardless of style and period, is
passionate about communicating with audiences, and has a special
interest in performing music by women.
As a new music pianist, Francesca has appeared as a solo and
collaborative guest artist at festivals like the Atlantic Music
Festival, New Music Delaware, New Music Gathering, Charlotte New Music
Festival, and the Bang on a Can Music Marathon. Equally versatile in
the classical repertoire, she has played in such venues as the Kennedy
Center, the National Gallery of Art, and the National Museum of Women
in the Arts in Washington, DC, and internationally in Bulgaria, Italy,
Portugal, and France. During the pandemic, she created the 100-day
online video series Daily Dose of Piano, which featured music from the
Baroque to today, including 14 premieres. She was recently named to
the Performing Artist Touring Roster of the Virginia Commission for
the Arts, and just recorded her debut album of women composers, which
will be released in early 2024.
Francesca is on the piano faculty at The Catholic University of
America and the University of Virginia, and maintains a thriving
private piano studio in Northern Virginia. She is an MTNA Nationally
Certified Teacher of Music and holds a DMA in Piano Performance.
francescahurst.com
Robert Snyder
Robert Snyder, M.D. is retired Chairman of Pathology at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring. An avid chamber musician, Bob has performed with professional artists including Marilyn Cotlow, Metropolitan Opera soprano; Audrey Andrist; David Fedele, flutist with the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society; Davyd Booth, violinist and John Eitzen, cellist (members of the Philadelphia Orchestra); and various chamber musicians at local embassies as former Music Director of the James Monroe Society. He has a greater than 40-year four-hand piano collaboration with Galen Deibler, retired professor of piano at Susquehanna University. He also performed at the Amalfi Coast Music Festival with pianist Jose Ramos-Santana. Having coached chamber music extensively with International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition Silver Medalist Susan Starr, he is presently studying privately with her in Philadelphia.
Viscount Thurston
Viscount Thurston began piano studies at age 7. At his first public performance at age 17, he played Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in Denver, Colorado with the orchestra led by his teacher, Antonia Brico. He gave his debut solo recital at Denver’s Phipps Auditorium in 1973. As a graduate student at the Ohio State University, Viscount won the music school’s concerto competition and performed Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the university orchestra. He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 1984. In 2003, he enjoyed the opportunity to reprise his performance of the Rachmaninov third concerto in Colorado, this time with the Littleton Symphony Orchestra. Viscount performed for several years in the DC area’sFriday Morning Music Club. He has been a regular with the Piano Society since 2007. He won First Prize in the 2010 Washington (DC) International Piano Arts Competition and Third Prize in the 2015 Boston Piano Amateurs Competition. He manages leadership development programs for the Federal Aviation Administration, and lives with his wife, Vickie, in Sykesville, Maryland.
Jason Solounias
Award-winning pianist Jason Solounias has distinguished himself as a multi-dimensional musician. He is passionate about inspiring new generations of musicians and music lovers in diverse settings, dedicated to community engagement and education. With performances across the United States and Europe, ranging from the Kennedy Center to Southwark Cathedral, Solounias is equally comfortable in the classical world as he is as a jazz and session musician. Recent engagements include performances with the Trinity Chamber Orchestra, Steinway Society of Puerto Rico, Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, WETA, Concerts from Kirkwood Series, and the Lisner Auditorium. He is also a soloist for the Pan American Symphony Orchestra, the premier tango orchestra in Washington DC. Solounias has worked with pedagogues including Leon Fleisher, John Perry, Jim Litzelman, and Jose Ramos Santana, and he currently lives in Washington D.C., pursuing his Doctoral Degree in piano performance at the Catholic University of America. He is also on faculty at the Opal Music Studio in Alexandria, Virginia.
Andre Leonard
Andre Leonard, an extremely versatile and accomplished musician, is the Director of Worship and Fine Arts at Shepherd Park Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in northwest Washington, D.C. Since taking on this role in 2014, his professionalism and passion for music has sparked renewed enthusiasm in not only the various church choirs and musicians, but also in the members of the congregation.
Andre graduated from the Berklee College of Music, as well as the Westminster Choir College, and has had many notable achievements throughout his professional music career. Following are examples of his most recent awards, accomplishments, and professional activities: 2017 - Gold Medal Recipient, Aloha International Piano Competition, Piano Instructor, Guitar Center, Member of the Washington Piano Society; 2016 - Finalist, Washington International Artist Piano Competition (Best Classical Period Award), Music Director, Icon Awards honoring Jesse Jackson and Cathy Hughes, Music Director, Off Broadway show "The Christians"; 2015 - Vocal Coach, Choral Ensemble, Andrea Bocelli Concert, Verizon Center. Also, Mr. Leonard was the Gold Medal Recipient at the Act-so National Competition for Music Composition for three years, consecutively.
Milica Sekulić
Pianist Milica Sekulić has performed in Serbia, USA, Japan, Sweden, England, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia, France, Switzerland, Austria, also she appeared as a soloist with the Royal Swedish Philharmonic, The Belgrade Philharmonic, Yugoslav Military Orchestra, the Stockholm Academic Orchestra, Collegium Academicum Orchestra. In 2007 she received the award for the best young artist by the Society of Music Artists of Serbia. She has played in chamber music groups with more than 100 instrumentalists and singers, and she was the pianist for the piano trio Classica Aeterna in Belgrade. She has recorded for TV and radio as a solo pianist, chamber musician and harpsichordist. Born in Belgrade, Serbia, Milica graduated from the Music School Dr. Vojislav Vučković in the class of Professor Olga Bauer, and she also studied piano with her grandmother piano professor Jela Kršić and mother pianist and professor Vesna Kršić Sekulić. She completed her Baccalaureate and Magisterial piano studies at the Academy of Musical Art in Belgrade in the class of Professor Mirjana Šuica - Babić, and completed her degree in harpsichord under the mentorship of the Prof. Miloš Petrović. She has won the highest awards in domestic, regional, and international competitions performing as a soloist and piano duo, and republic competitions in solfege. As a student in Belgrade, she was awarded – for the best performance of a sonata in 1999 by Katarina Aćimović Foundation, and for the most promising student in the piano department of the Academy of Musical Art in Belgrade in 2000 by the Emil Hajek Foundation. She continued her post-graduate studies at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, where she earned her soloist diploma in 2005 in the class of Professor Anders Kilström. Milica worked as piano professor in Music High school Stankovic in Belgrade (2007- 2016), and as a chamber music professor and piano accompanist at the Academy of Fine Arts Belgrade. She has collaborated with distinguished musicians and composers, from Serbia and Japan focusing on contemporary music from the two nations. This collaboration culminated in a 2011 concert held at Yumeria Hall in Tokyo. The compositions in the program were from Serbian and Japanese composers. Milica also gave a seminar on Serbian piano compositions and music in the Embassy of Serbia in Tokyo, which was attended by Japanese composers, critics, and modern music enthusiasts. Milica is a Faculty member at Montgomery College and a freelance pianist and accompanist in the Washington DC area, based in Potomac, Maryland with her husband and children.
Devon Rook
Devon Rook is a native Washingtonian who first studied piano at the Levine School of Music with Hyeweon Lee. He went on to major in music at Colby College, studying under William Chapman Nyaho, Yuri Lily Funahashi, and Cheryl Tschanz. In 2010, he won the school's concerto competition, performing Schumann's Piano Concerto in a minor. He also won the Alma Morrissette Music Prize.
These days, Devon teaches math, social studies, and music to elementary students. He enjoys playing a variety of musical styles, including four-hand piano, jazz, and West African drumming. After taking a break from formal music training, he has renewed his studies under the guidance of Jose Ramos Santana. He hopes to push his musical abilities to new heights.