Hour 12 – 9:00pm to 10:00pm
See featured performers below!
HEEWON LEE
Korean-American cellist Heewon Lee is a passionate musician who is dedicated to sharing stories through her music. She holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Eastman School of Music, where she has given world-premieres and numerous solo and chamber performances. Ms. Lee appeared in summer music festivals such as the Next Festival of Emerging Artists, Meadowmount School of Music, and the Bowdoin International Music Festival. She also attended the Orford Musique in Canada, and the Lunigiana International Music Festival in Italy.
As an avid chamber musician and collaborator, Ms. Lee has worked with members of the Takác String Quartet, Tokyo String Quartet, Cleveland String Quartet, and genre-bending musicians Daniel Ho, Jake Shimabukuro, and the Punch Brothers. From hospitals, libraries, retirement homes, to museums, Ms. Lee has performed in various performance venues, with the purpose of sharing the joy of music to all communities.
Ms. Lee teaches privately in the upstate New York area and serves as faculty at the Kanak School of Music in Rochester, New York. She first started cello at age nine in her hometown Honolulu, Hawaii.
MICHAEL SABATKA
A native of Rochester, New York, Michael Sabatka resides in Colorado Springs where he serves as the Associate Principal Violist with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic and performs with in the chamber series Colorado Hausmusik. Before relocating to Colorado in the fall of 2018, Mr. Sabatka called Alabama home, where he performed regularly with the Huntsville Symphony, Chattanooga Symphony, and as a substitute with the Alabama Symphony. He also had the privilege to play two seasons with the Boise Philharmonic before relocating to the Southeast.
An avid chamber musician and teacher, he has served as a faculty member of the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, Chautauqua Music Camp, many summers as a staff member of the Credo Chamber Music Festival, and as a guest artist at Mississippi State University.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and his master’s degree from Boise State University where he served as a graduate teaching assistant and fellowship string quartet member. Pending the completion of his dissertation project, he will earn his DMA from the University of Alabama, where he was awarded a position in the Capstone graduate string quartet, and in addition served as a graduate teaching assistant.
His primary mentors are Peter Slowik and Alice Kanack, and he has also grown both musically and as a teacher from the tutelage of Linda Kline, Wendy Richman, and Jacob Adams.
In addition to his life in music, Mr. Sabatka loves the outdoors and enjoys hiking the trails and peaks in Colorado with his fiancé Erica and their Corgi mix, Bartok.
NICHOLAS ZEHAO BAI
Born into a family full of musicians and music lovers, Nick Bai began his journey with piano as early as three years old. After years of study, Nick made his debut concert at the age of 14. At the year of 2012, Nick came to United States of America as a junior in high school and continued his piano study with Dr. Washington Garcia at Texas State University. After graduating from high school, Nick continued
studying piano at the University of South Carolina where he received his Bachelor and Master of Music degree under the tutelage of Dr. Marina Lomazov. He is now pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts at the Eastman School of Music.
As an active soloist, Nick was invited to play at various cities in China and won multiple prizes including prizes in Thousand Island International Piano Competition; Long Island International Piano Competition; MTNA Young Artist Division; Golden Age Artist Piano Competition; Columbia Music Club Scholarship Competition; Texas State Concerto & Aria Competition; Haiman Young Artist Piano Competition. During
his career, he was also invited to perform with symphony orchestras, such as the Virtuosi Brunenses Symphony Orchestra; Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra; Texas State Symphony Orchestra.
At the summer of 2016, Nick and Ke’er Wang together created the Miaomiao Piano Festival in Wuhai, China to be the best piano festival for pre-college young pianists of the area.
As a self-proclaimed technology and car enthusiast, Zehao enjoys tinkering his car and electronics when he is not working at his piano.
BEN PROCTOR
Ben Proctor is a musical pilgrim living in Rochester, New York. He works as a performer, teacher of guitar and rock history for Fairport Central School District, instructor and ensemble director at the Kanack School of Music, and private teacher of guitar, voice, banjo, dobro, and mandolin. His current project is acclaimed bluegrass/Americana band The Crooked North. He has many annoying habits, like constantly playing instruments and singing children’s melodies in odd meters. Ben likes to write songs and believes that teaching music is a high art.
Mr. Proctor graduated from the Eastman School of Music in 2009, receiving a Master’s degree in Music Education and New York State teacher certification in music. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Ethnomusicology at SUNY Geneseo in 2005 with highest honors. As an independent musician, Ben has performed in concert halls such as the Tribeca Performing Arts Center and Kilbourne Hall, international bluegrass and jazz festivals, and legendary rock venues such as CBGSs. As an educator, he has published teaching tools, given seminars, and been a guest teaching artist. He dreams of one day having a really cool nickname and a family band with everyone in corny matching outfits. The family band is underway, although the two youngest children are still not strong enough to support the weight of most bluegrass instruments. But that does not prevent them from trying.
Ben grew up in a Connecticut swamp where he dreamt of becoming a famous jazz musician. He played with jazz, blues, gospel, rock, and klezmer groups for a few years in Connecticut (including the Afro-Semitic Experience) before moving to New York City, where he postponed finishing college for the third time. With a lot of time on his hands and needing to support his annoying habits, he built websites, acted in off-Broadway theater, and performed with country, blues, and rock and roll bands. After years of musical soul-searching, he found his passion singing and playing American traditional music. He brought this passion to Western New York to finish college and begin his career as a musician, music teacher, and advocate for participation in social music traditions. His long-term goal is for everyone to learn a musical instrument that they can play in kitchens and on porches with their friends and families.
Learn more about Ben Proctor – Banjo, Dobro, Mandolin (Guitar, Voice) at:
http://benproctor.com/classes-and-lessons/
TERYLE WATSON
Teryle Thomas Watson was born in Brooklyn,New York. As the only child of Virgil and Lauramae Thomas, music became central to her life at an early age. She began her formal training at the Juilliard School of Music at age five. The preparatory department of Juilliard provided her with training in piano, voice and music theory She is also an alumna of the High School of Music and Art in New York City where she majored in violoncello. In 1967, Teryle adopted Rochester, New York as her new home upon her acceptance at the Eastman School of Music. Immediately upon her graduation from Eastman she traveled to the United Kingdom where she concertized as a cellist, singer and pianist while doing coursework at the Royal College of Music.In her return to Rochester in January of 1975 she began what was to be a thirty-one year career as a music teacher with the Rochester City School District. She has been honored to serve the children and families of schools 36,33,58,39, West High School, Marshall High School, Benjamin Franklin High School, East High School and the School of the Arts. During this period she was also conductor of the Inter-High School Choir for the RCSD. Her passion for large choral works led her to teach and conduct many of the great masterpieces of the genre with her students. This legacy includes Elijah, the Magnificat of J.S.Bach, the Requiem Masses of Rutter, Faure and Mozart, the Gloria settings of Poulenc and Vivaldi, the Peaceable Kingdom of Randall Thompson, and Messiah in its entirety by G.F.Handel.Her love of Musical Theatre has been witnessed in over fifty productions she has directed in this area. Two musicals, Big River and Ragtime, both School of the Arts productions won the Best Musical Award given by the Rochester Broadway Theatre League.
Teryle has also been active in the Gateways Music Festival. She has played cello numerous times in the festival orchestra and has served as chorus master/conductor for performances of the Lord Nelson Mass and the Choral Finale of the Beethoven Ninth Symphony.
For twelve years she taught voice at the Rochester Association of the Performing Arts.Her students have been known for their outstanding work at many schools and conservatories including, he Eastman School of Music, Syracuse University, Ithaca College, Manhattanville College, Suny Purchase, Geneseo, Potsdam and Fredonia, Indiana University, Boston Conservatory of Music, New England Conservatory of Music, Westminster Choir College, Lincoln University, Heidleberg College, Central State University, and Oklahoma State College.
Her love of music found its first foundation in the Church while she was a young child. This journey would lead her to become a Sister of Saint Joseph of Rochester. Liturgical music and Pastoral Ministry have remained a mainstay of her life as she has held music ministry positions at the former St. Augustines Church, Immaculate Conception Church, Our Lady of Victory Church, the former St. Phillip Neri Church and Memorial AME Zion Church. She has served on the Womens Commission, the Music Commission and the Liturgy Commission of the Diocese of Rochester.
Teryle is also the former conductor of the Rochester Peace Child Chorus and a singer with the Opera Theatre of Rochester.