The Team

Dr. James Hampson fell in love with classical music while pursuing a combined Bachelor’s/Master’s in Electrical Engineering. Also minoring in music, he was taking a Mozart Opera class and first learned about the natural horn, the valveless predecessor of the modern French Horn.

He became so fascinated with the natural horn in Mozart’s music that he decided that day to make music his career. He holds a Doctorate from Boston University in Historical Performance on natural and historic horns as the first person in the country to pursue this degree.

Dr. Hampson has performed all over the United States with period orchestras such as the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston, Mercury Orchestra in Houston, and the Albany Consort in San Francisco. He can be heard on Handel and Haydn Society’s live recording, Haydn Vol. 1, and Clarion Music Society’s Judas Maccabaeus.

He has given masterclasses and recitals at renowned conservatories such as the Cleveland Institute of Music, University of Washington, and SUNY Fredonia, as well as taught a natural horn course at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Outside of music his hobbies include hiking, kayaking, and hanging out with his wife Ashley and identical twins Charlie and Theodore.

Meaghan is a postdoctoral associate in the Jacks Lab at the MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. She completed her PhD in the Bosenberg Lab at Yale University. As a member of the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS) PhD program, and Yale Cancer Biology Training Program, Meaghan researched epigenetic modulators of anti-tumor immunity in melanoma, and received an NCI F99/K00 transition award to support this work. She also served as chair of the Yale Graduate Student Assembly in 2020-21, advocating for graduate student needs at Yale during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meaghan graduated in May 2016 from College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, with a BA with Honors in Biology and Music. While at Holy Cross, she was a member of the College Honors Program, and performed independent research in the Findlay Lab in the Department of Biology. Prior to attending Holy Cross, Meaghan graduated from East Catholic High School in Manchester, CT.

At age nine when her family was living in upstate New York, Yvonne Smith chose to learn to play the viola because of its rich, dark sound, its supporting role in ensembles … and her acute distaste for high notes, which would have been inevitable, had she chosen to play the violin. Her love for the viola grew throughout her childhood years and several cross-country moves, and she eventually grew to tolerate and even embrace high notes.

Yvonne was first introduced to early music as a teenager when she heard and fell in love with a recording of Corelli’s violin concerti by Philharmonia Baroque. She began seriously pursuing historical performance shortly after completing her modern viola performance degrees from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University (B.Mus’13, M.Mus’ 15). While at Rice, she studied with James Dunham and Joan DerHovsepian.

In addition to performing with and directing La Speranza, Yvonne enjoys a full schedule as a performing and teaching artist on both modern and baroque viola. In the 2022-23 season, she will appear with La Follia Austin Baroque, Lyra Baroque (Minneapolis, MN), American Bach Soloists (San Francisco, CA), Ars Lyrica Houston, and Lumedia MusicWorks (Dallas). She also has a thriving viola studio of private students ranging from age 8 to adult and frequently plays in the Houston Symphony viola section. Yvonne’s baroque viola was made by Timothy Johnson in 2017 after a viola by Andrea Guarneri, made in 1676.

Yvonne’s goal, whenever she plays, is to bring her colleagues and her audience the joy she experiences from making music. Particularly when she performs on her baroque viola, she loves experiencing the connection to the past and partnering with her colleagues in bringing it to the present for their audience.

Pianist Sivan Etedgee teaches and performs throughout New England.

Sivan appears frequently as a recitalist, chamber musician, and lecturer, performing for audiences of all ages throughout the year. Committed to making classical music enjoyable for everyone, he establishes an easy rapport with his audiences, giving commentary on the music throughout his concerts. During the Covid pandemic, he has given many innovative virtual lectures and concerts, some of which have been produced for public access television.

Among Sivan’s frequent performances have been concerts presented by Harvard University, the Brookline Library Music Association, Friends of the The Wellesley Public Library, Music at Eden’s Edge,“Music at the Meetinghouse” in Lebanon, NH, Brooklyn Public Library’s Dweck Center and the Beverly Hills Presbytarian Church in Los Angeles, CA. In April 2015, Sivan was the featured soloist in George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” with the University of New Hampshire Wind Symphony. Also active in summer music festivals, he has performed at the Apple Hill, Green Mountain, and the Connecticut Virtuosi Music festivals.

A dedicated and enthusiastic educator, Sivan teaches students of all ages at his home studio in Newton, MA. He has also taught at schools including the University of New Hampshire and UNH’s Summer Youth Music School (SYMS), Berwick Academy (ME) and the Newton Music Academy (MA). He is an active member of the Massachusetts Music Teachers Association, and is President (2021-23) of the New England Piano Teachers’ Association. Sivan has adjudicated competitions and festivals including the A. Ramon Rivera Competition, the MMTA State Competition, and the Milton Young Musicians Festival. Sivan is a Steinway Educational Partner, and received a 2021 Steinway & Sons “Top Teacher” award.

Sivan was educated at the University of New Hampshire, Boston University, and the Hartt school of music, where his teachers have included Christopher Kies, Anthony di Bonaventura, and Luiz de Moura Castro.

Sivan lives in West Newton, Massachusetts, with his family.

Jinyoung Susanna (Choi) Paik is the music director of Miclot Production; a nonprofit theater organization where she collaborates theatrical plays with live instrumental performances. Dr. Paik is also the founder and artistic director of Floutes, a flute ensemble formed out of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Since its establishment in 2015, she has led the ensemble to perform all throughout the United States and South Korea and performed the world premiere of Joel Hoffman’s “Self-Portrait with Orlando” at the 44th National Flute Association Convention in San Diego, California. In addition, Dr. Paik is the coordinator and founding member of the nationally recognized ensemble the New York Flutists.

As an accomplished soloist and orchestral musician, Dr. Paik is the winner of the Piccolo Masterclass Competition at the 43rd NFA Convention held in Washington, D.C. She travels globally every year, notably teaching at the 35th Concert World Jeju Music Festival in South Korea and attended Festival MusicAlp in France, where she studied with professors from the Paris Conservatory. Dr. Paik was also invited to perform at Treetops Chamber Music Society where she played in the masterclass with renowned musician Charles Neidich. She had also played in the masterclasses for the Berlin Wind Quartet, Laurie Sokoloff, Jennifer Gunn, Susan Hoeppner, and Gary Schocker. She has performed several recitals and concerts at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, Werner Recital Hall, Watson Hall, Cohen Studio Theater, Hubbard Recital Hall, and the Purchase Recital Hall.

Dr. Paik’s musical education started at LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, then continued on to Manhattan School of Music, Pre-College studying under Soo-Kyung Park and Bonnie Lichter. She earned both her BM and MM in Flute Performance at SUNY Purchase under Dr. Tara O’Connor. She then attended New York University for her Advanced Certificate while serving as an adjunct instructor at NYU’s Steinhardt School. She received her DMA in flute performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Dr. Bradley Garner. Dr. Paik has been the recipient of numerous awards, including Achievement in Chamber Music from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Sydney O. Perlman Award for Advancement in Music, and LaGuardia Outstanding Performance Award. In addition to New York Flutists and Floutes ensemble, she holds assistant principal position at the New York Wind Orchestra.

Flutist Andrea LeBlanc is devoted to furthering the artistry and expression of the flute by performing on instruments from the baroque, classical, and romantic eras. She has been praised by Early Music America for her “sensitive and beautiful playing, with crystalline tone and execution [that] made you wonder why it was necessary to invent the Boehm system for flute” (Fall 2015).

Andrea has performed and recorded with numerous ensembles in the Northeast, frequently serving as principal flute. She appears with the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, the Boston Early Music Festival, Arcadia Players, Aston Magna, The Sebastians, the Connecticut Early Music Festival, Blue Hill Bach Festival, and the Big Moose Bach Festival, as well as Mercury Houston; performing under such directors as Marin Alsop, Masaaki Suzuki, Richard Egarr, Nicholas McGegan, Harry Christophers, and Joshua Rifkin. She performs chamber music of the late-classical and early-romantic periods in recital with pianist David Hyun-Su Kim.

In 2021 Andrea co-founded the ensemble Arpeggione with clarinetist Thomas Carroll, to explore the ways in which Classical and Romantic music was historically experienced outside of the concert hall and bring innovative performances to venues around her home on Boston’s North Shore.

Ms. LeBlanc holds a B.Mus. with honors and distinction in performance from New England Conservatory and a M.Mus. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she was a teaching assistant in flute and early music. She spent a year furthering her study of the traverso at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague.

Audiences have described violinist Emily Hale’s performances as animated, intuitive and elegant. Fueled by a sense of curiosity and discovery, Emily performs baroque and classical repertoire on period instruments and creates interactive performance experiences.

Her credits include recording with the London-based Early Opera Company for a BBC Channel 4 series about life in the 18th century. She’s played chamber music and opera repertoire at the Valletta International Baroque Music Festival in Malta and at the London Handel Festival. In New York, she has appeared with the Four Nations Ensemble and The Sebastians, and in Boston with Emmanuel Music.

From intimate house concerts to leading a pop-up baroque orchestra at Boston’s Roslindale neighborhood Porchfest, Emily is focused on connecting with audiences. Her Pajama Concerts have proved popular with family audiences at libraries and schools in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania. Pajama Concerts offer innovative “musical story-telling,” pairing classic children’s literature with chamber music in an open, inclusive format.

As founder and curator of the period ensemble The Halfmoon, Emily programs multi-disciplinary concert experiences that connect early music and culture with our lives today. Her inventive performance project Vanitas offered audiences the chance to explore the 17th century art concept focused on the fleetingness of life and pleasure. Combining the music of Monteverdi and his contemporaries, poetry of the period, plus looping pedals and an on-site illustrator, audiences were immersed in a time-warping sensory adventure.

Committed to nurturing other musicians’ curiosity and growth, Emily is Instructor of Violin and Viola at Bridgewater State University, and has coached baroque ensembles in the Junior Department of the Royal College of Music. She joins the faculty of the Early Music Week summer festival in Conway, NH in 2021.

Emily holds a master’s degree in Historical Performance, with Distinction, from the Royal College of Music in London. At the RCM, she studied with Adrian Butterfield and Catherine Martin, and won the McKenna Prize for Baroque Music. Her work was featured as part of the College’s series of innovative student-curated concerts, Great Exhitibitionists. Emily also received degrees in violin performance from Houghton College and Penn State University.

Moriah Trenk currently works as a full-time Company Pianist at Philadelphia Ballet. Previously, Moriah held a position at Boston Ballet School and as a staff pianist at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. She was recently featured in a solo performance at The Villages, Florida, as a prizewinner of the 2018 Enchanted Evening concert series, where she performed for a packed audience of over 850 people. Pauline Pan, director of the Opera Club at the Villages said, “Moriah Trenk’s playing was out of this world. Her performance is indelibly etched in my memory. Bravo!” In a concert review by Tony Violanti of the Villages-news.com, Moriah was praised for her “fluid and graceful style” in performance of Chopin and Rachmaninoff.

As a versatile musician and collaborator, Moriah enjoys a busy schedule working as an accompanist for various instrumental and vocal studios, dance classes, musical productions, and choruses. She completed her Master's Degree in Collaborative Piano at New England Conservatory of Music, where she received a merit scholarship to study with Cameron Stowe and Jonathan Feldman. As a recipient of New England Conservatory's Community Performances and Partnerships Fellowship, Moriah performed interactive music programs throughout Boston. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from New York University where she was a student of Seymour Bernstein and Grant Wenaus.

Other recent engagements have included performances as a soloist and with ensembles at Jordan Hall, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Wagner College of Music in Staten Island, Loewe Theater, Merkin Concert Hall, Hunter College, and Queensborough Community College, among other venues. Moriah has been a featured performer at events honoring Alan Gilbert and members of the NY Philharmonic. She has performed outreach concerts with Boston's Volunteer Musicians for the Arts, and was accompanist for The Woman’s Chorus; a social initiative launched by Eureka Ensemble that enables women experiencing homelessness and poverty the opportunity to rehearse and perform in a chorus.

In recent summers, Moriah received full scholarships to study chamber music at The National Music Festival at Washington College, Manchester Music Festival's Young Artist Program in Manchester, Vermont and the Emerging Artists Fellowship Program at Garth Newel Music Center in Hot Springs, Virginia. Moriah is a prizewinner of various competitions; including the Hudson Valley Music Club competition, the NYU Art of Solo and Collaborative Piano Award, the Yonkers Concerto Competition, the YWCA and Korean Daily News Piano Competition, the International Concert Alliance Piano Competition, and runner up in the Westfield Concerto Competition. Moriah has been selected to perform in masterclasses with leading performers such as Vladimir Feltsman, Alexander Kobrin, and Carter Brey. She previously studied with Paul Ostrovsky and Sara Davis Buechner.

Cellist Anna Seda has dedicated her artistry to the mastery of not only the classical canon but explores contemporary, folk, and popular music. Anna began her cello studies in Denver, Colorado at age four catching the “bug” when she first learned a fiddle tune by ear.

Holding degrees from the University of Colorado, University of Denver, and the Boston Conservatory, some of her most influential mentors include members of the Boston Symphony, Tacaks String Quartet, and Grammy winning multi-style cellist Mike Block, of which she works as his executive assistant.

Internationally, Seda has appeared at the Adriatic Chamber Music Festival in Italy, the Singapore Symphony, Great Wall Soloists in Beijing featured on NPR, and took a sabbatical in Cusco, Peru to teach cello.

Prior to the pandemic her New England based life was dizzyingly full of appearances with orchestras, opera pits, concert series, and studio musician recordings but in the quietude of the “Long Pause”, Seda has stepped into the realm of content creation, bringing more than 60,000 people worldwide entertainment, education, and music on the daily.

After his first heart surgery at the age of nine, Adam Merrill found companionship and solace at the piano. Through his authentic approach, his poised yet emotionally dynamic playing weaves colorful stories that can only be told by music.

As a testament to his beloved craft, Adam holds over 30 awards and distinctions from small town Idaho to international acclaim. Most notably, he has won first prize in the state MTNA Young Artist competition, first prize in the ISCS Young Artist competition, first prize in the Musicians West piano competition, as well as prizes from the 2018 and 2019 International Buono and Bradshaw piano competition, the 2021 International Medici Music Competition, and the 2021 Clara Schumann International Music Competition.

Since his Orchestral Debut with the Idaho State Civic Symphony’s Myth, Magic, and Madness concert season, Mr. Merrill has continued to perform regularly. He prioritizes curating programs that engage his audiences and is praised for his Teaching Artistry. He is also a sought after collaborative pianist and is a proponent of performing, commissioning, and premiering the music of living composers.​

Adam has been teaching piano for a decade. Specializing in advanced students preparing for auditions, adult beginners, and pedagogy for young beginners, Mr. Merrill devises a curriculum catered to each student and class to best inspire a love of learning, a love of music, and a healthy self-relationship. Here is a quote from his teaching philosophy:

“His teaching focuses on the techniques of Golden Era piano playing through the lens of modern educational practices. He specialize in the Old Russian School technique, descendent of Rosina Lhévinne (Van Cliburn's Teacher) and Joseph Lhévinne (Adele Marcus’ teacher), the Lesetchesky approach (descendent of Beethoven), the Taubman technique, and a strong focus on tone production and phrasing. Mr. Merrill teaches about harmony, structure, form, aural theory, anatomy, and most importantly, developing a connection to each student's inner musical voice through interpretation.

Students in his studio have gone on to compete in piano competitions, attend competitive private schools, successfully complete top Royal Conservatory of Music Recital Exams, play at Julliard, and apply for Fulbright Scholarships. Most importantly, his students learn to love music and enjoy playing the piano in addition to being successful musicians.”

Mr. Merrill is passionate about preserving these great traditions in classical piano. He also believes that music and music education should be available to all. He is the founder and director of Next Golden Era, an organization dedicated to raising and distributing funds for equity based music lesson scholarships. Though many believe that the Golden Era of piano and classical music has passed, Adam believes that it is in the hands of the next generation of young musicians.

As a lifelong learner, Adam believes that music teaches the soul, and as long as he plays, he will be its student. This love of learning has helped him graduate Magna cum laude from Idaho State University with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and a minor in voice. He also holds Master of Music degree from Longy School of Music of Bard College with high marks. There, he was a proud scholar of Janet and Irv Plotkin, a Teaching Assistant, a Graduate fellow, and an assistant editor to The Ensemble and The World Ensemble. His Mentors include Brandon Bascom, Kori Bond, Mark Neiwirth, Spencer Myer, and Jeffrey Biegel.