A native of Colombia, Mr. Palis received his undergraduate degree at Javeriana University (Bogotá - Colombia), an Artist Diploma in Violin Performance at Duquesne University (Pittsburgh - Pennsylvania), and his Master's degree in Violin Performance at the University of Houston (Houston - Texas).

Mr. Palis was part of the Colombia Youth Philharmonic in 2011 and 2013 performed in national and international tours with the orchestra. He also participated in FEMUSC Music Festival (Santa Catarina - Brazil) in 2012 and 2013. While in Pittsburgh, he was a member of the Frances DeBroff String Quartet as well as orchestras such as Butler County Symphony, Johnstown Symphony and a substitute violin in Westmoreland Symphony. Currently, Mr. Palis is a violin teacher at Houston Youth Symphony Coda Program, plays chamber music at the Clear Lacke Chamber Ensemble and is a private instructor at Clear Creek ISD and is member 2018 for the Global Leaders Program cohort.

Emmy Rozanski is an enthusiastic music educator and active freelance trombonist in the Milwaukee and Chicago areas. She is a teaching artist for Sistema Ravinia, and low brass instructor for the Dundee, IL school district. Emmy has performed with Summit Brass (Denver), the Powder River Symphony (Wyoming), and the Billings Symphony (Montana). She appears regularly in ensembles throughout Wisconsin and Illinois, including with the Star Gate Orchestra, several big band jazz bands, and the Milwaukee Trombone Choir. In February of 2016, Emmy toured Switzerland performing with the Arizona Contemporary Music Ensemble. Emily earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in trombone performance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and holds a Master's of Music and DMA in trombone performance from Arizona State University. She is a passionate visual artist, as well as musician. As part of her doctoral project she wrote and illustrated a children's book about the trombone, Mr. Fitch Joins the Band.

Emily Herdeman Kelly enjoys a diverse career as a performer and educator. An experienced orchestral musician, Ms. Kelly has performed with the Oregon Symphony, Houston Symphony, Austin Symphony, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet, River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, and the New World Symphony. She has participated in professional and fellowship summer festivals including the Britt Festival Orchestra (OR), Tanglewood Music Center (MA) and many others. A dedicated teacher, she is currently a Teaching Artist with the Seattle Symphony and has been on the faculties of Carnegie Mellon University and the Rice University Preparatory School. In addition she has maintained private studios in Washington, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Indiana for students of all ages and levels. In 2016, Ms. Kelly traveled to El Salvador to teach and perform as a fellow with MusAid and is looking forward to returning to El Salvador in 2018. Her principal teachers include Paul Biss and Kathleen Winkler, and she holds degrees from Indiana University and Rice University.

Philip Alejo is an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Arizona and Artist Faculty at Bay View Music Festival (MI). He previously served as Visiting Professor of Bass at the University of Michigan. Philip has performed with the Arizona Opera, Phoenix Symphony, Tucson Symphony, Chicago Civic Orchestra, Quad City Symphony, Ensemble Dal Niente, Flint Symphony, and Ann Arbor Symphony. As a chamber musician, Philip collaborates regularly with harpist Claire Happel in River Town Duo, which will soon release a recording of new commissions. His festival appearances include Spoleto Festival USA (SC), Lucerne Festival (Switzerland), Swannanoa Chamber Music Festival (NC), Mackinac Island Music Festival (MI), Avaloch Farm Music Institute (NH), Oaxaca Instrumenta (Mexico), Aldeburgh Festival (England), Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival (AZ), Pacific Music Festival (Japan), and Aspen Music Festival (CO). Philip holds degrees from Oberlin College (BA, BM), Yale University (MM), and the University of Michigan (DMA).

Erica Cherry is a clarinetist and teaching artist active in the Philadelphia area. Passionate about both performance and education, she maintains a vibrant private studio of over fifty clarinet and piano students. Erica also acts as a woodwind coach and operations manager for the Youth Orchestra of Bucks County. She is an advocate for accessible music education and outreach, and has worked as a lead teacher for the Whiz Kids Music Program, traveled to Belize as a teaching artist with MUSaid, and worked with COR Music Project. Erica has developed a series of interactive children's concerts that have been presented in local non-traditional spaces, as well as an engaging day camp curriculum geared towards second-year band students. She has performed at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall and Pittsburgh's Benedum Center, and she regularly presents chamber music recitals. Erica has studied and trained at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and the Lincoln Center Teaching Artist Training Lab. Her primary teachers are Thomas Thompson and Ron Aufmann.

A native of Sacramento, violinist Annamarie Arai enjoys creating music with ensembles of diverse backgrounds and sizes, such as One Found Sound, a conductor-less chamber orchestra in San Francisco. She frequently performs with other Bay Area groups including the Santa Rosa Symphony, Modesto Symphony, Merced Symphony, and Sacramento Philharmonic. Annamarie has also had the privilege of collaborating in chamber music performances alongside world-renown players including David Kim, Guillaume Sutre, and Bonnie Hampton.

Annamarie is passionate about educating the next generation of players and holds two Suzuki pedagogy certificates. Along with maintaining a private studio in San Francisco, she is also on faculty as a Teaching Artist with Enriching Lives through Music (ELM), an El Sistema program in San Rafael, CA.

Annamarie received her B.A. from UCLA and her master's from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying with Movses Pogossian, Ian Swensen and Wei He.

Sonja Myklebust has a private teaching studio and enjoys an active freelance performing career in Portland, Oregon. She moved to Portland from Seattle, where she completed her Master's and Doctoral degrees at the University of Washington, studying with Toby Saks and Saeunn Thorsteindottir. While in Seattle Sonja was the winner of the University of Washington Concerto Competition, a member of the scholarship string quartet, and Teaching Assistant for the new music ensemble, Inverted Space. A founding member of the Portland Cello Project, Oceana String Quartet, and the Lowdown Duo, Sonja has performed on stages throughout the west coast of the United States. She currently holds a faculty position at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon where she teaches private cello lessons and chamber music. She has also held positions at Edmonds Community College and Seattle Music Partners as well as being a Teaching Artist with and founder of the Meany Center's Music Link program. Sonja is a registered Suzuki teacher.