Angela Massey’s debut album has been described as “beautiful and enchanting, the performances on this CD are magical!” by Jeanne Baxtresser, former principal flute of the New York Philharmonic. As a soloist, she has been a featured guest artist with the Tryon Concert Association, Kosciuszko Foundation in New York City, National Flute Association Convention, and invited to perform a Vivaldi Piccolo Concerto with the Southwest Florida Symphony. Outside of the United States, she has performed in England, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, and Switzerland. In regard to chamber music, she serves as Artistic Director and founder of the Astralis Chamber Ensemble arranging and performing numerous recitals each year. She holds a flute/piccolo position with the Southwest Florida Symphony and performs regularly with the Sarasota Orchestra. She was awarded prizes in the Alexander and Buono Competition, Frank Bowen Competition, Myrna Brown Competition, and certificate in the Gheorghe Dima International Competition in Romania. Her instructors have been Alberto Almarza, Jeanne Baxtresser, Martha Kitterman, Jack Wellbaum, and Brooks de Wetter-Smith. She received degrees in flute performance from Carnegie Mellon University, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For more information, visit www.angelamasseyflute.com.
Kris Marshall is principal trumpet with the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, Venice Symphony, and has built an active career performing with multiple orchestras across the state of Florida, including the Jacksonville Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, and regular performances with The Florida Orchestra. Marshall has been a featured soloist with the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra on many occasions and with the Fifth Avenue Chamber Orchestra in Naples, Florida. As a founding member of the Astralis Chamber Ensemble, he presents several chamber recital tours each year and participates in commission projects to increase the chamber repertoire for trumpet. He won first prize in the Florida Orchestra Young Artist Competition and was later selected to attend the Chautauqua Institution Summer Music Festival where he studied with Chuck Berginc, principal trumpet with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra. Other significant instructors include Robert Smith, principal trumpet with The Florida Orchestra, and Ed Cord, former principal trumpet with the Israel Philharmonic and Utah Symphony. Marshall pursued degrees in trumpet performance at Florida State University, Indiana University, and the University of South Florida.
As founding 1st violinist of the Callisto Quartet, Paul Aguilar won top prizes at Banff, Bordeaux, Fischoff, Melbourne, Wigmore Hall, and Manhattan International Competitions. Recent performances include appearances on Schneider Concert Series, Dame Myra Hess Concerts, Music Institute of Chicago Artist Series, Ravinia Festival, ChamberFest Cleveland, La Jolla Summerfest, Heidelberg String Quartet Festival, and the Emilia-Romagna Festival. He is also performing with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra for the 2022-2023 season. Formerly, he was a member of Rice University’s Graduate String Quartet in Residence and also studied at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofia School in Madrid, Spain with Gunter Pichler. He previously earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Violin Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he was a full-scholarship student of Jaime Laredo and Jan Sloman. Hailing from a Venezuelan-American family in South Carolina, he began studying violin at age five with his older sister as his primary teacher. In addition to traveling around the world performing, Paul enjoys sharing music alongside his wife Rachel, at their church and throughout their community in schools and numerous other community centers. Paul is a 2019 MPower Grant recipient from the Sphinx Organization.
Cellist Megan Chartier, hailing from Detroit, has performed as a chamber and orchestral cellist throughout North America and Europe. In recent years, she has served as Principal Cellist of the Miami Symphony Orchestra, Principal Cellist of the Pacific Region International Summer Music Academy in Canada, Assistant Principal of South Florida Symphony, and Guest Principal Cellist of both Opera San Luis Obispo and State Street Ballet in Santa Barbara, California. In recent seasons, she has also performed with orchestras including San Antonio Symphony, Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Palm Beach Symphony Orchestra, Nu Deco Ensemble, and Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra. Megan is an active chamber musician and founding member of Miami-based string trio, the Wynwood Trio. As a soloist, she was named a semi-finalist in the 2017 PRISMA Concerto competition, 1st prize winner of the Ann Arbor Society of Musical Arts’ 2015 Young Artist Competition and a winner of the 2015 Miami Music Festival Concerto Competition, conducted by Grzegorz Nowak of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Ms. Chartier holds a Bachelor of Music in Performance from Eastern Michigan University and a Master of Music in Performance from University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI. For more information, visit www.meganchartier.com.
The 2019 Gold Medal winner of the Houston Symphony’s Ima Hogg Competition, Rachel O’Brien has appeared in Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Houston’s E. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, Cleveland’s Severance Hall, and Blossom Music Center. A winner of Astral Artists’ 2017 National Auditions, O’Brien received top prizes from such competitions as the Lyon & Healy Awards, the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) Concerto Competition, and the Saratoga Harp Colony “Play with the Pros” Competition. She is also the recipient of the Alice Chalifoux Award and was the 2015 CIM Presser Scholar. O’Brien has appeared as soloist with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, members of The Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Repertory Orchestra, and the CIM Symphony Orchestra. Passionate about inspiring musicians around the world, O’Brien maintains a significant social media following, with around 50,000 followers on Instagram. She is the author of “Purpose in Practice: 26 Rules for the Practicing Musician,” a book designed to motivate musicians to achieve higher practicing goals. O’Brien teaches privately and also serves on faculty at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. Rachel O’Brien holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied harp performance under Yolanda Kondonassis. For more information, visit www.rachelleehall.com.
Chee-Hang See is a prize-winning pianist who has been called "a cool and confident performer" by the Charleston City Paper. He has performed in concert series and festivals such as the Festival Internacional de Colonia, Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra Musicale, South Carolina Chamber Music Festival, Chicago Duo Piano Festival, Hawaii International Cultural Arts Festival, and Piccolo Spoleto Festival. He has soloed with the Toa Payoh West Chinese Orchestra in Singapore; Bela Bartok Orchestra in Perugia, Italy; Montevideo Philharmonic in Uruguay; Charleston Symphony Orchestra; and the Cleveland Institute of Music Chamber Orchestra. He plays regularly with Charleston Symphony, Chamber Music Charleston, and his duo, Tan and See Piano Duo. Chee-Hang is currently on faculty at the Charleston Academy of Music and music director of the Midtown Theater in North Charleston, where he founded “Midweek at Midtown,” a chamber music series. His debut album “Violin Transcriptions,” featuring works by Rachmaninoff and Muczynski, was released in 2014. He received degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, College of Charleston, and diplomas from the Royal Schools of Music and Trinity College London under the tutelage of Sandra Shapiro, Enrique Graf, and Wong Joon Hwang. For more information, visit his website at www.cheehang.weebly.com.
A native of Atlanta, GA, pianist Caroline Owen has performed in venues across the U.S. and in Austria, Italy, and the Czech Republic. She was the winner of the 2019 Florida MTNA Young Artist Competition and a semifinalist in the 14th International Mozart Competition and 2016 International Keyboard Odyssiad. She also won the 2018 Pro-Mozart Society of Atlanta Competition, from which she received a scholarship to study at the Mozarteum International Summer Academy under Dominique Merlet and Christopher Hinterhuber. Owen has participated and performed at festivals including Pianofest in the Hamptons, PianoTexas, Atlantic Music Festival, and the Prague Piano Festival. She has worked with distinguished artists and teachers such as Richard Goode, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Pascal Rogé, and Boris Slutsky, among others. Owen is also committed to promoting new music, most recently performing at the 2022 FSU Festival of New Music and premiering Donald Yu’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra in 2021. Her background in dance has also fostered unique multidisciplinary collaborations with composer Badie Khaleghian. Owen recently received her Doctorate of Music degree in piano performance from Florida State University. For more information, visit www.carolineowenpiano.com.
Dr. Alexandra Snyder Dunbar is an award-winning harpsichordist, pianist, and pedagogue. She holds degrees from the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, and Interlochen Arts Academy. She received a full scholarship as a resident in the C.V. Starr Fellows Program as a Doctoral Candidate at Juilliard in the harpsichord studio of Lionel Party. Solo performances with orchestra have included Orchestra 54, Dorian Baroque Orchestra, The Memphis Chamber Music Society, The Symphony of Westchester, and The Chamber Orchestra of New York. Dr. Dunbar has collaborated on performance projects with the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, The Dryden Ensemble, the Foundlings Ensemble, and The New York Philharmonic. Dr. Dunbar is on the music faculty at the University of North Georgia and Athens Technical College, and she regularly concertizes and maintains a private teaching studio on piano, harpsichord, and organ. She is an instructor of Music Theory and Harpsichord at the world-renowned Interlochen Arts Camp in Interlochen, Michigan. Currently she serves as Organist at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Athens, Georgia, and is harpsichordist and co-artistic director for Amethyst Baroque Ensemble.
"The Captiva Civic Association is in love with Astralis!"
“The performance was dazzling! What a great pleasure to hear such sensitive musicianship. It was a rare treat!”
Brooks de Wetter-Smith (UNC Chapel Hill former professor of flute)
“‘That was a terrific day in our music department –
your masterclass and recital both were SO well done and enthusiastically received by the students! Bravo!”
“The performance was dazzling! What a great pleasure to hear such sensitive musicianship. It was a rare treat!”
Brooks de Wetter-Smith (UNC Chapel Hill former professor of flute)
“‘That was a terrific day in our music department –
your masterclass and recital both were SO well done and enthusiastically received by the students! Bravo!”