Jillian storey, flutes
Jillian Storey just finished her second year as a doctoral candidate at UNC Greensboro where she is a Teaching Assistant in the flute studio and is studying with Dr. Erika Boysen. An avid teacher and music advocate, Jillian has held numerous teaching and leadership roles. She is currently the curator for the Pre-Concert Conversations series for the UNCG Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestras, and an administrator for the UNCG School of Music’s Instagram account. She currently serves on the Archives and Oral History Committee of the The National Flute Association, is the Newsletter editor for the Marcel Moyse Society Fan Page, and will assist with the 2020 Darkwater Women in Music Festival. Previously, Jillian maintained a private teaching studio in Houston, TX, and has taught in Waco, TX, Tennessee, and spent two weeks in the summer of 2016 teaching music reading in Malaysia. She was also the Woodwind Area Coordinator of the Chamber Music Outreach Program while studying at Baylor University and a faculty member for the Baylor High School Band and Orchestra camps.
A dedicated performer, Jillian has performed with the Waco and Bryan Symphonies and the Greensboro Opera. In 2018 she was the flutist for J.S. Bach’s B Minor Orchestral Suite, BWV 1067 with the Bryan Symphony Orchestra and is a prior finalist of the Baylor University Concerto Competition and winner of the Marcel Moyse Society’s Essay Contest (2015), TN MTNA Young Artist Competition (2013, Honorable Mention and 2010, Winner), the Joan Derrberry Memorial Competition (2010), and a finalist in the Nashville Philharmonic’s Concerto Competition (2010 and 2011). She was also the flutist for Coloratura Winds, the TX MTNA Chamber Music Competition Winner and South-Central Division’s Runner-Up in 2016.
Jillian holds an MM from Baylor University (2016) where she was a Graduate Assistant in the flute studio, and a BM from Tennessee Tech University (2012), with further flute studies with Trevor Wye (2012-13 and 2016-17). Her primary teachers are Erika Boysen, Trevor Wye, Francesca Arnone, Roger Martin, and JoAnn McIntosh.
Praised for his "fiery playing," "dramatic performance," and "stunning orchestral playing," rising cellist Peter Swanson has performed across the United States as soloist, cutting-edge collaborator, and orchestral leader. He has appeared in concerto performances with the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra, the Northshore Philharmonic Orchestra (both MN), the UNCG Alumni Orchestra, and performed Annie Gosfield's chamber concerto Almost Truths and Open Deceptions with members of Catchfire Collective. His passion for the modern cello repertoire has led him to tackle the works of Hindemith, Crumb, Britten, Ligeti, Barber, Shostakovich, Dutilleux, Lutoslawski, Golijov, Augusta Read Thomas, Peter Vukmirovich Stevens, and John Luther Adams. He has freqeuntly performed these works in solo recital tours. His debut CD "Anti-Compass" was released in August 2021 through the Sheva Collection (United Kingdom) label.
An emerging composer, his music has been performed at numerous festivals around the United States, including New Music on the Bayou, Cape Fear New Music Festival, the National Music Festival, the District New Music Coalition Festival, and the Iowa Composer's Forum Mid-Winter Festival. He is a winner of multiple prizes and distinctions both in the United States and Canada. He has written music for Catchfire Collective, flutist Jillian Storey, oboist Heather Armstrong, the UNCG Chorale, and the Domino Ensemble. His music has explored uncharted territory in music, featuring unconventional techniques such as screaming vocals and works for multiple virtual choirs.
As an orchestral musician, his leadership roles span nearly a dozen orchestras at the community, collegiate, and professional level. Most recently he has served as Acting Principal of the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra (NC). Accolades also include a full fellowship to the National Orchestral Institute, the inaugural Prince George's Philharmonic Cello Internship (MD), and two years as endowed principal of the Luther College Symphony and Chamber Orchestras. He can also be heard on the Grammy-nominated NAXOS recording of the National Orchestral Institute performing masterworks by Ruggles, Stucky, and Harbison (2018). As a chamber musician, he performs throughout the country as cellist of Catchfire Collective, an innovative chamber ensemble based in North Carolina, and with pianist Meagan Lacher as Duo 336. Other chamber tenures include the Ekklesia Trio, Music In The Shape Of A Pear, the TEMPO Ensemble, the Gate City Camerata, Present~Continuous, the Elon Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, and the Di Domani Quartet. In these groups he has premiered numerous pieces and promoted recent compositions from around the world. His conducting credits include the Methodist University Chamber Orchestra, Assistant Conductor of the Lee County Community Orchestra, cover conductor for the Durham Symphony Orchestra, the UNC-Greensboro Sinfonia, the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestra, and Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra (MN).
He is currently Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. He has also served on the faculty of the University of North Carolina-Pembroke, Methodist University, Guilford College, Catawba Valley Community College, and the UNC-School of the Arts Community Music School. He holds degrees from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, the University of Maryland, and Luther College (IA). Mentors include Alex Ezerman, Eric Kutz, Cole Tutino, and Rebecca Peterson. He has performed in masterclasses for Andres Diaz, Robert DeMaine Cecylia Barczyk, Richard Belcher, Tulio Rondon, Christine Kim, and Lawrence Stombeck. He is a winner of the National School Orchestra Award, the Luther Music Excellence Award, and the Burlington Industries Music Award. Peter plays a 2013 Beckmann cello specially commissioned by Givens Violins in Minneapolis.
isaac pyatt, percussion
Isaac Pyatt is a percussionist, composer, and educator currently based in Lansing, Michigan. Isaac has presented or performed in concerts and festivals across the Eastern half of the United States and Canada. Recent performances include guest artist recitals at UNC-Pembroke and Winthrop University and appearances at University of Nebraska –Kearney’s New Music Festival and SCI Student Conferences, with an upcoming solo tour in Fall 2019 at universities across the southeast. Winner of numerous competitions, he has performed as a soloist with the Michigan State University Orchestra, UNC-Greensboro Orchestra, and UNCG Percussion Ensemble, and performed at Percussive Arts Society’s International Convention and North Carolina Days of Percussion.
He is a founding member of two Triad-based chamber music ensembles – Conduit Percussion Trio and Catchfire Collective. In recent years, he has attended Bang On A Can Summer Festival, Waterloo Region Contemporary Music Sessions, So Percussion Summer Institute, and Leigh Howard Stevens’ Marimba Seminar. Isaac frequently performs with regional orchestras in North Carolina and Michigan, including the Winston-Salem Symphony, Greensboro Symphony, and Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra.
Isaac’s music is published through APAKA Music and Tapspace Publications, and his performances have been featured by Vic Firth Concerts. In addition to performing and promoting his own compositions, he has premiered works by Mark Engebretson, Lowell Fuchs, Grace Gollmar, Cory Harper-Latkovich, Sharneisha Joyner, Ricardo Lorenz, John Mackey, Hedra Rowan, Adam Silverman, Jason Treuting, Kendall Williams, and Binshan Zhao. Isaac is currently a Graduate Assistant at Michigan State University, working towards a Master’s in Percussion Performance. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in percussion performance and music composition at University of North Carolina – Greensboro, where he was also a recipient of the Minerva Music Scholarship. He has studied percussion with Gwendolyn Dease, Jon Weber, Eric Willie, and John Beck, and studied composition with Alejandro Rutty and Mark Engebretson.
