Jillian Povázsay, flutes
Flutist, educator, and creative Jillian Povázsay (neé Storey) leads a dynamic career as a chamber and orchestral musician, teacher, and leader.
An avid educator, Jillian has held numerous teaching and leadership roles. She currently resides in Raleigh, NC where she maintains a private studio of students across the region. She is also a teaching artist with Kidznotes, an afterschool music program for social change serving predominantly K-6 students in the low-income neighborhoods of Raleigh and Durham. Prior to teaching in Raleigh, she was an instructor at the University of North Carolina Greensboro and maintained a private studio of roughly 40 middle and high schools students in Houston, TX.
Music advocacy and service are central to Jillian’s contributions as a professional musician. As such, she has held numerous leadership and artistic roles within the wider music community. From 2018-2021 she was the Pre-Concert Conversations Curator for UNCG’s premiere performance ensembles. She has also served on the National Flute Association’s (NFA) Archives and Oral History Committee, as the Woodwind Area Coordinator for Baylor University’s Chamber Music Outreach Program, and is currently the Marcel Moyse Society’s Digital Director as well as a board member for the Raleigh Area Flute Association.
Her doctoral research, “Social Practice Methods in the Applied Flute Studio,” aims to provide suggestions for more equitable, relevant, cooperative, and community-responsive applied flute studio practices. She uses this research as inspiration for her teaching, performance career, and service. This research was also the winner of the National Flute Association's (NFA) Graduate Research Competition in 2023.
A dedicated performer, Jillian is the flutist with Catchfire Collective, an innovative mixed chamber ensemble based in North Carolina that offers unique performances that capture the ethos of twenty-first century art music. As a member of Catchfire she also serves as Director of Operations and Marketing. She has also performed with the Durham, Waco, and Bryan Symphonies, the Brevard Philharmonic, Piedmont Wind Symphony, and the Greensboro Opera. Solo engagements have included Carl Reinecke's Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, J.S. Bach’s B Minor Orchestral Suite, BWV 1067, Jacques Ibert’s Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, and Charles Griffes’ Poem for Flute and Orchestra for UNCG’s 2020 European Tour (canceled due to Covid-19). She has been a finalist or prizewinner in numerous competitions, including the Baylor University Concerto Competition, the Marcel Moyse Society’s Essay Contest, MTNA Tennessee Woodwinds Winner, MTNA TX Chamber Winner, Nashville Philharmonic’s Concerto Competition, and been a runner up in MTNA’s South-Central Regional Chamber Music Competition.
Jillian earned her Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where she studied with Dr. Erika Boysen. She completed her Master of Music from Baylor University with Dr. Francesca Arnone and her Bachelor of Music from Tennessee Technological University with Dr. Roger Martin. Along with her collegiate studies, Jillian spent a total of a year studying with Trevor Wye in the United Kingdom.
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.
Anja Arko, Piano
As a performing pianist, college professor, and a global citizen, Anja looks to explore connections between music, environmental crisis, and progressive causes. Her repertoire spans over several periods of classical music for solo piano, as well as contemporary ensembles and various genres. In recent years, Anja has premiered numerous new compositions and participated in several collaborative projects.
Her most recent collaborations include Paradox Opera, a non-profit organization that regularly performs newly commissioned works that focus on social justice, and Catchfire Collective, a contemporary music chamber initiative. Anja also plays for Because the Oceans, an ensemble dedicated to promoting ocean conservation. In 2022, the group was awarded a federal grant through US Consulate in Marseille, France to conduct outreach programs in economically disadvantaged schools in the region, as well as perform at the prestigious Camargo Foundation of Marseille and Oceanography Museum in Monaco. In April of 2023, the group performed in a concert series at the National Gallery of the Arts Washington, DC. This year, Anja was awarded the 2022/2023 Arts Greensboro Grant for her solo recording project that focuses on environmental issues and sustainability.
Anja is the winner of a Slovenian National Competition for Piano Duo and has performed widely across Europe (France, Germany, Austria, Czech, Serbia, Croatia) and the United States. She holds a Doctorate degree in Piano Performance from University of North Carolina at Greensboro (2020), where she also earned a Post-Master’s Certificate in Music Theory Pedagogy. She completed her Master of Music degree at the University of Florida and her Bachelor of Music at the University of Ljubljana. Anja is an active member of the Greensboro music community, serving as a teacher and as an adjudicator at local festivals and competitions. She currently works as a faculty member at University of North Carolina at Greensboro and High Point University.
Isaac Pyatt, Percussion
