Resonant Refractions

Resonant Refractions, performing on NYsoundCircuit shows, is the resident sinfonietta of NYsoundCircuit.

RESONANT REFRACTIONS

Jackie Traish, Flute

Jackie Traish is a native of Rocky Mount, North Carolina and is completing her post-graduate studies at the Mannes School of Music with Judith Mendenhall. She has performed in notable venues, including Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, New York City Center, the Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and Joe’s Pub, with world-renowned programs including Martha Graham Dance Company, New York City Ballet, and the Metropolitan Opera. She has worked with notable conductors including David Hayes, David Fulmer, Alan Pierson, JoAnn Falletta, Leslie Stifelman, and Daniela Candillari.

As a passionate chamber musician, Jackie performs regularly with numerous chamber groups, both traditional and contemporary, within Mannes School of Music and around New York City. As a freelance musician, you can find her performing all over New York City, from pit orchestras for musical theater and operas to orchestras, chamber concerts, and world premieres. Her passion for interdisciplinary arts, contemporary music, and arts education is evident in her work as a musician and teaching artist across NYC.

Jackie holds a BM in Music Performance and a BS in Science Education from East Carolina University, and received her MM from Mannes School of Music in 2018. www.jackietraish.com

Emmalie Tello, Clarinet

Emmalie Tello (she/her) is a New York City-based clarinetist, teaching artist, and entrepreneur. She has performed at venues including the New York City Center and several halls at Lincoln Center, and with esteemed groups like the International Contemporary Ensemble and the Martha Graham Dance Company. An ardent fan of contemporary music, she regularly premieres new works and has a strong affinity to music written by and for friends. She made her concerto debut with conductor David Fulmer, performing Brian Ferneyhough's "La Chute d'Icare" with the Mannes American Composers Ensemble. She is a passionate educator and co-founder of "Art Beyond the Ink," an enterprise which pairs live music with other art forms to engage audiences in musical storytelling and deepen emotional connection. Her organization is an active partner with the New York Public Library, who has commissioned several presentations from them as part of their 2020-21 programming. Other teaching engagements include work at Music for Extraordinary Students (MUSES) program at Haven Academy in The Bronx, substitute teaching at the Youth Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and maintenance of a private NYC studio. She has also worked as a woodwind coach for students in the Hunter Symphony at Hunter College, and she teaches clarinet with the Manhattan School of Music community partnerships program. She is currently studying Contemporary Performance at Manhattan School of Music.

Mason Adams, Bassoon

Mason Adams is a Texas born bassoon player now working and residing in the northeast. He received his Bachelor of Music from The Hartt School in Connecticut and his Master of Music from the Mannes School of Music in NYC, while studying with Marc Goldberg for both degrees. Along with teaching and freelancing in the city, Mason has been the principal bassoonist of the Hartford Independent Chamber Orchestra since 2015 where he primarily performs contemporary music of local up-and-coming composers. He is also principal bassoonist of the Maryland Chamber Winds, an ensemble dedicated to teaching and performing wind music in communities where the arts are not easily accessible. In 2016, Mason was a quarterfinalist in the prestigious Fischoff Chamber Music Competition performing alongside the OptiKord Trio where he competed against some of the top young chamber music ensembles in the country.

Kevin Barnes, Trumpet

Originally from Nova Scotia, Canada, Kevin Barnes is a trumpet player and arts advocate with a keen interest in the growth and accessibility of contemporary music and arts education. He has performed with the Canadian Brass, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and has toured all over Canada during two seasons with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. Kevin has also lived in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he regularly performed with groups like the Bach Ensemble of Edinburgh, St. Andrew’s Camerata, and the Scottish Sinfonia. 

Kevin is a founding member of the brass quintet subtle cheetah, which was awarded a 2019 Alsop Family Foundation Grant to launch a project focussed on performing and recording new and unheard music for brass. 

Kevin studied at the University of Toronto and The New School’s Mannes School of Music where his principal teachers were Curtis Dietz of Symphony Nova Scotia, Bart Woomert of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and David Krauss of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

Currently, Kevin is a freelance musician, non-profit administrator, and dog owner in New York City.

Andrew Ennis, Trombone

Andrew is a Trombone and Euphonium performer and instructor originally from Buffalo, New York. With performance degrees from the Interlochen Arts Academy, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and Mannes School of Music, he has studied extensively with industry leaders from the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, and Las Vegas Philharmonic, among others. Over the span of his career thus far, Andrew has been welcomed to perform at notable venues across the country including Chicago’s Symphony Center, Cleveland’s Severance Hall, New York City’s Alice Tully Hall, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art; once alongside the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble for the headline performance of the 2017 Bang on a Can All-Star’s Marathon, and a second time for a preview performance of The Metropolitan Opera’s 2019 production of Phillip Glass’s Akhnaten.

Adam Beard, Percussion

Adam Beard is an active Percussionist and Composer residing in New York City. His educational pursuits culminated in a DMA in Percussion Performance from Stony Brook University, where his scholarly interests as a percussionist and composer focused on an exploration of how compositional systems influence unique temporal relationships in music. Dr. Beard’s principal percussion teachers include Eduardo Leandro and Blake Wilkins. He also holds a BM in Music Composition from the University of Houston and has studied composition with Rob Smith, Matthew Barnson and Margaret Schedel.

As a percussionist, Dr. Beard performs contemporary works and has given performances with ensembles such as DNA Percussion, which he co-founded with percussionist Daniel Pate, Resonant Refractions, the AURA Contemporary Ensemble and the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players. His performances have been seen in NYC and surrounding areas as well as in festivals and conventions throughout the United States, including the Percussive Arts International Convention, Chosen Vale and the SPLICE Festival.

Dr. Beard composes works for chamber ensembles and soloists. His works focus on the exploration of rhythm and the interaction between layers of musical time. He received the Sarofim Composition Award for his piece Webs. Dr. Beard has composed works for ensembles such as Musiqa, the AURA Contemporary Ensemble, DNA Percussion and the Flauto d’Amore Project. His works have been performed in various venues throughout the United States.

Stephanie Babirak, Harp

Russell Kotcher, Violin

Russell Kotcher, a native of Detroit, Michigan, has been featured as a soloist in New York with the Brooklyn Symphony; Germany at the Bodensee Festival, Isny, and Munich; in Philadelphia with the Prometheus Chamber Orchestra; and at Carnegie Hall with the Chamber Orchestra of New York. A former member of the Mühlenberg Piano Quartet, Russell was awarded several grants and commissions to premier original compositions at The Juilliard School and The Curtis Institute of Music. Currently, Mr. Kotcher is Principal Second Violin of the Chamber Orchestra of New York, violinist with the AVA Opera Orchestra, and violinist and pianist of Murmuration, a classical improvisational ensemble. Murmuration was awarded the Subito Grant from the American Composers Forum to help fund their first album, “Revised Notes”.

Vivek Menon, Violin

Vivek Menon is a master’s student and President Scholar at the Mannes School of Music, where he studies with Curtis Macomber. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree at UNC Chapel Hill, where he studied with Nicholas DiEugenio as a Griffith Music Scholar. Vivek has worked closely with acclaimed musicians such as international soloist Jennifer Koh, cellist Jeffrey Zeigler of the Kronos Quartet, renowned violinist and pedagogue Donald Weilerstein, and members of the Orion, Arianna, American, JACK, and FLUX string quartets. He attended the prestigious Aspen Music Festival in the summer of 2017 on full scholarship as a Thomas Kenan Fellow, and in 2019 was a scholarship student at Madeline Island Chamber Music and soundSCAPE Contemporary Performance Exchangein Cesena, Italy. Vivek is especially interested in music from the 20th and 21st centuries, and seeks to uplift the works of composers with marginalized identities through his performances. He has also worked in a variety of eclectic styles, recording string arrangements for musicians such as rising South African artist Dasychira and electronic music producer IGLOOGHOST of Brainfeeder.

Ann-Frances Rokosa, Violin

Kyle Stalsberg, Viola

From Kenosha, Wisconsin and a recent alum from NYU Steinhardt’s graduate program, Kyle Stalsberg enjoys producing and performing contemporary music, as well as collaborating with others in chamber music.

Luis Mercado, Violoncello

Puerto Rican American cellist, Luis Mercado is a performer and educator in New York City. A passionate teacher, he has been teaching cello as a member of the Adjunct Faculty at New York University since 2013, and was previously an Artist Teacher at the Abrons Arts Center. From 2010 to 2011, he taught cello practicum and private cello at the University of South Carolina. In addition to his collegiate level teaching, Luis maintains a growing private studio and is committed to providing affordable, inclusive, and fun cello instruction to students of all ages. As a performer, Luis enjoys playing music of all styles, ranging from baroque to contemporary to the occasional pop arrangement. He has appeared frequently as a chamber musician and collaborator in a variety of venues including the Harlem Arts Festival, NYC Fringe Festival, and Bang on a Can Marathon. He currently serves as Principal Cellist of New York City’s Queer Urban Orchestra. Luis earned degrees in cello performance from New York University (MM) as a student of Ed Arron, and the University of South Carolina (BM) as a student and teaching assistant to Dr. Bob Jesselson. Away from the cello, he cooks Puerto Rican food for friends and explores New York State. Luis has been a member of the American String Teachers Association since 2006.

Associated Artist
Navida Stein, actress