COMPASS Concert: Welcome to the Program: Community Online Meditation Performance and Salon Series, An online Zoom concert presenting live music programming.

Laura Amoriello is a pianist, pedagogy specialist, and meditation instructor. She was a college professor for 18 years and now finds joy in helping students make music mindfully.

Laura teaches with a holistic approach, emphasizing the mind-body connection and collaborating with students on problem-solving and goal-setting. She incorporates mindfulness practices into the lesson to help students ease their movement, calm their thoughts, and focus their minds. At the core of her teaching is collaboration with students, as setting authentic goals is a key to unlocking expressive joy.

Laura has directed teaching studios in three states, where she has taught students ages 3 to 76 privately and in groups. Her students have been admitted to the Eastman School of Music and Berklee College of Music. Laura has served on the faculties of Ithaca College, Westminster Choir College, and The College of New Jersey. She chairs the Wellness Committee for the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy and is an Associate Teacher of the Art of Practicing Institute, where she works closely with Madeline Bruser. Laura has a keen interest in teaching and performing works by new composers, including Higdon, Suesse, and Wallen. She is a MNDFL Certified Meditation Instructor.

Laura holds a Doctor of Education degree from Teachers College, Columbia University, and Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in piano performance and pedagogy from Penn State University and Westminster Choir College. She lives in Ithaca, NY with her husband, writer Pete Croatto, and their spirited kindergartener, Olivia.

Visit Laura's teaching website here: www.lauraamoriello.com

Nancy Good

Nancy has been playing clarinet for over 20 years and was also in a touring band (folk/classical/light rock) singing main vocals. Since 2012, her clarinet focus has been with tango orchestras and trios. She is a psychotherapist, working internationally in trauma healing and resilience, mother of 3 children and 2 grandchildren.

Nancy performs with Isabelle Haulin and other musicians who live close to Portland Oregon. They met through tango dancing, and have been playing tango music together for about 2 years. They particularly like playing for dancers, at local public events and small house parties.

Isabelle Haulin

Isabelle has been playing piano as a hobby since childhood, mostly classical music, until around 2016 when she decided to focus on tango music. She is a software engineer currently working for Nike, and mother of an 18 year old boy.

Isabelle performs with Nancy Good and other musicians who live close to Portland Oregon. They met through tango dancing, and have been playing tango music together since 2018. They have played for dancers and at house parties.

Mari Hwang

American pianist Mari Hwang believes in creating a safe world where people are inspired to live wholeheartedly. As a co-producer of The COMPASS Concerts (Community Online Meditation Performance and Salon Series), she and her partners, Shinichiro Inaji and Louis Yungling, have established a welcoming, safe environment for music performance where people from all over the world feel a sense of community, support, and healing.

Ms. Hwang’s earlier experiences and challenges with stage fright for solo performances has guided her to share mindfulness awareness practice, easing psychological tension, and connecting heart to music. She performs in variety of venues, in concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, DiMenna Center for Classical Music, Merkin Hall, Walt Disney Hall, and in cathedrals, hospitals, libraries, music schools, and private residences.

Her programming frequently shines light on works by unknown, undervalued, minor works of well known composers, and women composers. Her embodiment of often deeply personal storytelling resonates profoundly with audiences and leads to open and courageous dialogue.

In addition to her private teaching studio and being on the faculty for MSM Summer Program, she serves as a collaborative pianist at Manhattan School of Music in NYC.

Ms. Hwang has moved from a sunny suburb of Los Angeles, CA, to attend Manhattan School of Music, where she has received a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance. Subsequently, she has received a Master’s in Music from Mannes School of Music and a minor in impact entrepreneurship from The New School.

Shinichiro Inaji

Shin loves piano and has been learning on his own since he was a child, and finally started long-sought piano lessons under teacher and friend Louis Yungling since 2018. Piano and music are a big part of the joy of his life and he is very curious and appreciative to learn the connection of mind and body through piano playing. Currently he works as a freelance illustrator/animator and Licensed Massage Therapist in Portland Oregon where he lives with his husband Walter and Shiba-inu Yuki.

Shin is very happy to be a part of the COMPASS Concerts as a performer, an audience and co-producer with Mari and Louis through which he has been able to meet and interact with wonderful friends and musicians.

Mirna Lekić

Pianist Mirna Lekić performs a wide range of repertoire that reflects her interests in intercultural music, historical performance practice, and contemporary works. As a recitalist and chamber musician she has performed in the United States, Canada and Europe, at venues including Carnegie- Weill Hall, Symphony Space, Chicago Cultural Center, St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, Théâtre de l'Ile Saint-Louis in Paris, and the Hall of the St. Petersburg Union of Composers and the Gorki Leninskiye Museum in Russia. Her performances are featured on Furious Artisans, Centaur, and Romeo Records and have been broadcast on WQXR, WNYC, WFMT, WPRB and Bosnian TV and radio stations. Mirna serves as an Associate Professor of Music at Queensborough Community College, CUNY and as Associate Faculty in Piano at Columbia University.

www.mirnalekic.com

Francesca Leo

Francesca Leo is a cutting edge flutist, entrepreneur and educator. She has given solo and chamber performances internationally in Italy and France and has performed as a soloist with the New Albany Symphony Orchestra and the Manhattan School of Music Chamber Sinfonia. A Michigan native, she has won top prizes in many competitions including the Manhattan School of Music Eisenberg-Fried Concerto Competition, the Central Ohio Flute Association Young Artist and Collegiate Division Competitions, the Lima Symphony Young Artist Concerto Competition, the New Albany Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition and the MTNA Solo Division Competition.

A fierce advocate of contemporary music, Francesca has appeared as a soloist at the Society for Composers International (SCI) and the Society for Electroacoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) Conferences, where her performance won a recording spot on the 2018 Music From SEAMUS, vol. 27 CD. She is the flutist and a founding member of the Quintilia Ensemble, a quintet committed to pushing the boundaries of contemporary chamber music. Francesca has participated in the premieres of many new works in solo, chamber, orchestral and operatic settings, including the Mid-American premiere of Kaija Saariaho's opera Émilie. She is currently working with numerous composers to premiere new repertoire for solo flute.

As an orchestral musician, Francesca has performed under the baton of renowned conductors such as Roderick Cox, George Manahan, and Leonard Slatkin. She specializes in performing arts health and is the founder of www.playingwithoutpain.com, an award-winning interactive web resource designed to provide collegiate music students with information to treat and prevent performance-based injury. She has presented her research at various institutions across the United States including the Manhattan School of Music, West Virginia University, Ohio Northern University, among others. Francesca currently serves as a board member on the National Flute Association Performance Health Care Committee and is a Social Media Assistant for the Art of Practicing Institute.

Francesca holds a masters degree in Classical Flute Performance from the Manhattan School of Music as a former Joseph F. McCrindle scholarship recipient and a bachelors degree in Music Performance and Entrepreneurship from Bowling Green State University. Francesca's primary teachers and mentors include Linda Chesis, Conor Nelson and Jeffrey Zook.

www.francescaleoflute.com
www.playingwithoutpain.com
Instagram: @francescaleoflute
Instagram: @playingwithoutpain

Ruby Norman

Ruby was born in April of 2003 in Scottsdale, AZ and grew up in Tempe, AZ. From the time she was 4, she started formal music lessons, first on violin and then, at age 5, on piano. She has always loved music and was exposed to various genres since she was very young.

At age 7, Ruby was Mesa Metropolitan Youth Symphony (MYS) and made it into Division 4. Throughout the years, she practiced diligently, participating not only in MYS, but also receiving high ratings for violin from ASTACAP, winning concert master for Tempe Middle Schools Honor Orchestra two years in a row, participating every summer in Quartet Camps, and participating in her school orchestras from fifth grade through senior year at McClintock High School. She worked her way through all Divisions of MYS to Violin 1 in Division 1, and graduated from that orchestra in ninth grade. She has been an active participant in the Youth Symphony of the Southwest (YSSW) for 3 years and is in Violin 1. In addition to her participation with MYS Division 1, Ruby was an eager participant in the MYS Fiddlers group for two years. This group traveled to various Community Events, performing Fiddler Music that is completely memorized and requires flexibility and a high level of musicianship and ensemble skill. She is also a dedicated member of the Chamber Orchestra at McClintock Orchestra and has participated in the Arizona State Regional Festival Orchestra for 3 years. With Connolly Middle School Orchestra, she traveled to Disneyland and performed with her classmates in Disney Recording Studios. She also recently toured throughout L.A. with McClintock High School Orchestra and had an opportunity to solo on one of the pieces.

On piano, Ruby is also fairly accomplished, performing as needed as an accompanist with her High School Orchestra and in the school jazz band on piano. She was also the only freshman in her High School to accompany seniors on their instrumental music in their Senior Recitals. She has participated in several community events, including ASP (Arizona Study Program) through ASMTA and ensemble festivals. In May of 2018, she won the Janeen Noble Outstanding Musician award through Desert Valley Music Teachers Association.

In addition to violin and piano, Ruby loves to sing and dance. She had dance lessons from age 3 to 7 and performed in a few community events through the dance group. She has also participated in various Music Theater classes and events such as Childsplay and Seton Summer Music Theater. Last year, she was a volunteer assistant for Seton’s Music theater classes, since she has participated in their events as a singer, actor and dancer for 6 years.

Overall, Ruby loves music and it will forever be an intrinsic part of her life and personality. She hopes to be a Veterinarian in the future but expects to have music in her life wherever she goes.

Paul Walker

Paul Walker is an amateur musician and composer who has been studying piano and other instruments most of his life. As well as playing piano, guitar, and more with family and friends, he composes a variety of music which you can find at SoundCloud. Paul is also active in the open source music software community, maintaining several large open source music software packages, He spends some of his musical time at the intersection of software, synthesis, and composition.

Louis Yungling

Hello, my name is Louis Yungling and I'm the founder of COMPASS. I'm also a pianist and teacher.

Meditation, mindfulness and awareness exercises are an integral part of my teaching and practice. Musicians benefit greatly from these practices by being able to fine tune their focus and get more out of their practice as well as increase their responsiveness to sound and be more present and confident in performance.

I created COMPASS concerts to extend these practices to audiences and give everyone a moment to pause and go inward. We do this by sharing a brief contemplation exercise before every concert. In this way we practice being aware of one another and give ourselves a chance to feel and appreciate our unique contribution.

Preparing our minds and bodies to receive and make music allows us to be more receptive to the beauty and generosity that goes into a musical performance. And practicing this type of mindful preparation regularly can help us open our hearts more to the experiences of our day to day lives.

I am thrilled to share this journey with you and the very talented, generous artists who perform here. Thank you to all my musician friends for sharing your gifts and creating beautiful programs of music for our COMPASS community. And thank you to all who come and partake in these heart-warming community concerts.

I currently live and teach piano in Valencia, Spain. My teaching website: Yungling Piano Studio.