Lorena Navarro was generously supported by the David and Peggy Leighton Endowment

Lorena Navarro is a percussionist, educator, and composer. She has had the honor of sharing the stage with members from Sō Percussion, Sandbox Percussion, Bang on a Can All-Stars, and Akropolis Reed Quintet. She has performed internationally as an Artist in Residence at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Canada. As an educator, Lorena serves as the Assistant Instructor of Percussion at University of Central Missouri, where she teaches private lessons, coaches percussion ensemble, and teaches the UCM Marching section. As a composer, she explores writing for percussion and mixed chamber ensembles. She premiered her first solo written for marimba at the 2024 Gather Listen Hear Festival at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Her arrangement, My Neighbor Totoro: 3 Movements for Percussion Ensemble, was premiered by the Michigan State University Percussion Ensemble. She currently arranges for the UCM Marching percussion section and has previously written for the MSU Spartan Drumline. Lorena is currently pursuing her D.M.A. in Music Performance at Michigan State University. She earned her M.M. in Percussion Performance from Michigan State University and her B.S. in Music Education from Utah Valley University.

Nina Wang was generously supported by the Cyril and Elizabeth Challice Fund for Musicians

Nina Wang is a classical pianist passionate about bringing communities together through music and storytelling. Through performance, collaboration, and the organization of concerts/outreach initiatives, she explores music’s ability to connect people across cultures and generations. Nina is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at the University of British Columbia, studying with Dr. David Fung. She earned her ARCT Diploma in Piano Performance in 2019 and has since performed across North America as both a soloist and collaborative artist.

An active and versatile collaborator, Nina works regularly with instrumentalists, vocalists, and chamber ensembles. She has participated in the Orford Academy of Music and the Anchorage Chamber Music Festival and has performed in masterclasses for artists including Janina Fialkowska, Sara Davis Buechner, and Emely Phelps.

Her achievements include the Bronze Prize in the College & Adult Category of the Ambrose Matilda International Music Competition (2025), First Place in the Senior Canadian Composers Category at the Performing Arts BC Provincial Festival (2022), and the Vancouver WestCoast Music Society’s 2026 Tony Roper Award for Diversity in Programming. An enthusiastic chamber musician, she enjoys collaborating with fellow artists and composers to bring a wide range of repertoire to audiences.

Sarah Song was generously supported by the Sylvia and Jack Chetner Endowment

Korean-American cellist Sarah Song has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in venues across North America, Europe, and Iceland. As a soloist she has appeared with the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Space and the Aaron Copland School of Music Orchestra. She has collaborated with artists like Kronos Quartet, Sæunn Thorsteinsdottir, the Metropolitan Opera, Itamar Zorman, Emannuel Ceysson, and Martha Graham Dance Company. Song is a founding member of the all-female Ondine Quartet, which received the Ensemble Forward Grant working with Todd Philips and Ayane Kozasa. She performs regularly in venues like Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, The LGBTQ Center, and Flushing Town Hall. Sarah holds degrees from Indiana University, The Eastman School of Music, and CUNY Queens College. She is pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts at The CUNY Graduate Center with Marcy Rosen. Her research concerns musical hybridity in cello music by diasporic Korean composers. Song lives in Brooklyn where she heads her adult cello studio and teaches at Long Island University BK.

Enzo Kok was generously supported by the Maria Francisca Josepha Brouwer Fund for Dutch Artists

Enzo Kok (14th of August, 2002) born and raised in Kerkrade, The Netherlands, got his first violin lesson at the age of 6. With guidance of his teachers Ilya Grubert and Eliot Lawson he finished his bachelor studies in 2023 at the Conservatory of Amsterdam with the highest score. From October 2023-2025, Enzo continued his studies at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin with Professor Ulf Wallin. Since October 2025 he’s studying at the Hochschule für Musik in Hannover with Liza Ferschtman.

In 2018 he was one of the three finalists of the Dutch Violin Competition ‘Davina van Wely’. In 2019 he received the 1st prize during the national finals of the Prinses Christina Concours. In 2024 Enzo won the 3rd prize as well as the audience prize at the Dutch Violin Competition “Oskar Back Prijs” during the finals. Enzo performed on multiple occasions in concert halls such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Tivoli Vredenburg Utrecht. He gave concerts all across Europe as a soloist and chamber musician. As a soloist he appeared with orchestra’s such as the Residente Orchestra and the Hamburger Kamerata. Enzo performed with musicians as: Daniel Rowland, Lisa Jacobs, Iris Hond, Anna Federova and members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Enzo plays a violin built by J.B. Vuillaume generously in loan from André Rieu.

Kailan Fournier was generously supported by the Helen Graham Artist Award

Kailan Fournier is a freelance clarinetist based in Toronto. As an orchestral freelancer, Kailan has performed with ensembles such as Les Violons du Roy, the Ontario Philharmonic, Hamilton Philharmonic, the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and various others. Kailan completed his Bachelors degree at The Glenn Gould School with Joaquin Valdepeñas, a Graduate degree at McGill University with Todd Cope and recently finished his Advanced Diploma in Performance at the Eastman School of Music with Michael Wayne. Kailan started his musical education on bass clarinet, which is quite uncommon, and loves to get a chance to explore contemporary music and the unique sounds possible on bass clarinet. In his spare time, Kailan also manages a cafe in Yorkville and enjoys rock climbing.

Yueyu Liu was generously supported by the Isobel and Tom Rolston Fellowships in Music Endowment

Yueyi Liu is a North America–based percussionist and educator currently pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of British Columbia. As Founder and Artistic Director of the Vancouver Youth Percussion Ensemble, she is dedicated to fostering music education and community engagement through percussion.

As a versatile percussionist, Liu’s performance career spans solo, chamber, and contemporary works. She has collaborated with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Turning Point Ensemble, Vancouver Brass Ensemble, and the Canadian Music Centre, and has participated in interdisciplinary projects at the Vancouver Contemporary Art Gallery. Her international performance experience includes performances at Lincoln Center and New York City Center in collaboration with the Martha Graham Dance Company, as well as numerous orchestral performances in China.

As an educator with over a decade of teaching experience, she has mentored students who have earned top prizes in international percussion competitions and gained admission to prestigious ensembles, guiding young musicians toward both artistic excellence and professional development.
 

Thomas Law was generously supported by the Isobel and Tom Rolston Fellowships in Music Endowment

Chinese-Canadian flutist, Thomas Law, is a freelance performer, passionate educator and Music Director of the Capilano Flute Choir in Vancouver, Canada.He has performed with the Vancouver Symphony, Victoria Symphony, Vancouver Island Symphony, Kamloops Symphony, Okanagan Symphony (Acting Principal) and various local ensembles.

Thomas is well-known as a frequent recitalist, often performing with his flute-guitar and flutepiano duos, with a keen focus on performing works by women and Asian composers. He has presented these recitals at universities such as Capilano University and the University of Victoria.

Beyond his musical performances, Thomas is not only an accomplished musician but also passionately dedicated to education. He maintains a full studio of flutists across Vancouver and frequently serves as a flute workshop clinician and adjudicator. He is currently on faculty at the Vancouver Academy of Music. Thomas received his M.Mus from the University of British Columbia and further studies has taken him to Pender Island, Orford, and Miami Beach, where he has gotten to study with Lorna McGhee, William Bennett, Paula Robison and Marina Piccinini.

Dr. Gladys Rowe (she/her) is Muskego Inninew (Swampy Cree) with membership in Fox Lake Cree Nation in Northern Manitoba, Canada. She holds a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies (Social Work, Indigenous Studies, and English, Film & Theatre) and is the Director of Indigenous Insights Collective.

Gladys is a community facilitator, program designer, educator, researcher, and evaluator with approaches rooted in Indigenous, decolonial, and anti-colonial frameworks. She integrates arts-based methods including poetry, collage, zine-making, and visual storytelling to support reflection, storytelling, and collective meaning-making. Her practice recognizes that systems transformation happens through relationships, dialogue, and creativity—holding space for complexity, healing, and emergence.

Gladys hosts Indigenous Insights: An Evaluation Podcast, launched in 2022, which has released over 50 episodes and received more than 31,000 global listens. Through this platform, she uplifts stories of Indigenous and decolonial evaluators, artists, and community leaders who are reimagining what evaluation can be when grounded in values, stories, and shared humanity.