Featured Artists

On October 14, 2012, our concert celebrating National Arts and Humanities Month featured established and emerging artists from Silicon Valley, including the following:

Patricia Cheng has performed as a piano soloist and as a chamber musician in recitals and festivals throughout the United States and abroad, and has been praised for her thoughtful programming and sensitive musicianship. In 2010, she explored the music of artists in search of national identity, in a concert titled "Finding Home: A Kaleidoscope of Musical Journeys." Her recent appearances in the San Francisco Bay Area include performances at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, Stanford University, the Palo Alto Art Center, the Community School of Music and Arts, and Foothill College. She earned a master’s degree in 2005 from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Paul Hersh and was named a finalist in the school’s annual piano concerto competition.

Ms. Cheng is also a recognized leader in arts advocacy, having been selected to participate in 1stACT Silicon Valley’s Multicultural Arts Leadership Initiative in 2009. She served as a member of the City of Mountain View’s Performing Arts Committee from 2003 through 2010; and, as Chair for five years, she worked to expand the scope and impact of the Committee’s initiatives.

An active member of the Music Teachers’ Association of California, Ms. Cheng currently teaches piano at the New Mozart School of Music and at Canon Music. Her work as a performer, educator and arts advocate has been supported by grants from Arts Council Silicon Valley, 1stACT Silicon Valley and the Castellano Family Foundation.

Ms. Cheng earned her undergraduate degree with honors in English from the University of Chicago. She also won the prestigious Donnelley Cambridge Exchange Fellowship, which enabled her to study music for one year at Cambridge University. Ms. Cheng then attended Yale Law School, where she earned a J.D. while actively continuing her piano studies.

Nancy Bloomer Deussen is well-known as a composer, performer and arts impresario. She is a leader in the growing movement for more melodic, tonally oriented contemporary music and is co-founder and President Emeritus of the SF Bay Chapter of the National Association of Composers, USA. Her original works have been performed in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and China; and she has received numerous commissions, both locally and nationally.
Ms. Bloomer Deussen holds B.M. and M.M. degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and a B.M. in music education from the USC School of Music. Her composition teachers were Vittorio Giannini, Lukas Foss, Ingolf Dahl and Wilson Coker.

Recent performances of her works include: "A Field in Pennsylvania" by The Dayton Philharmonic Symphony; "Solstice Circle" at the American Harp Society concert in San Francisco; "Carmel by-the Sea" by the US Army Symphony Orchestra; "Ascent to Victory" by Orchestra Nova of San Diego; "Music From the Heartland", "Adirondak Morn" and "Two American Songs" at the American Pen Women conference in Washington, DC; and "San Andreas Suite" by the Divisa Ensemble and numerous others.

For information on future performances, sheet music and available CDs, please see her website: www.nancybloomerdeussen.com.

 

Stephanie Ng, viola, holds degrees in music from the University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco State University. An avid chamber player, she has had the opportunity to perform with the Alexander String Quartet and members of the San Francisco Symphony. She performs with many orchestras around the Bay Area, including the Marin, Berkeley and California Symphonies.

Quelani Penland, violin, holds degrees in music and political science from the University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco State University. Ms. Penland is the Concert and Events Manager at Hertz Hall, Department of Music at UC Berkeley, and Orchestra Librarian for the Berkeley Symphony, Vallejo Symphony and Young People's Symphony Orchestra. As a freelance violinist, Ms. Penland has performed with many ensembles throughout the Bay Area, including the Berkeley Symphony, Mendocino Music Festival Orchestra and The Bach Quartet Project.

Sara Styles is an active cellist and music educator based in Menlo Park. She works for the El Camino Youth Symphony as a cello coach and chamber music coordinator, is a teacher for Music for Families, and maintains a private studio. She can also be found performing with local symphonies or contracting ensembles for private events. Ms. Styles received her M.M. from San Francisco State University and her B.M. from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. To learn more about Sara, please visit: www.sarastylesmusic.com.

Tomiko Tsai is a flute performer and educator in the Bay Area. Ms. Tsai performs often with local ensembles and as a soloist. Ms. Tsai especially enjoys inspiring younger flutists. She maintains a full private teaching studio, directs several flute ensembles and is a faculty member of the Northern California Flute Camp. Ms. Tsai holds an M.M. in flute performance from the University of Southern California and B.S./B.A. in chemistry and music from the University of Puget Sound. Visit www.tomikoflute.com to learn more.

David Miller, soprano saxophone, is a native of Scotland and has lived in the Bay Area since 1996, where he is a professor of electrical engineering at Stanford. He has played clarinet and saxophone in various groups, chamber ensembles, orchestras and bands, and directed the Bell Labs Big Band in New Jersey before moving to California. He was a founding member of the Scottish Saxophone Quartet, the first such classical ensemble in Scotland.

Mark Schwartz, alto saxophone, is one of the co-founders of the Los Gatos/Saratoga Big Band and has been performing with the band as lead alto saxophone/clarinet since its inception in 2004. Mr. Schwartz has also arranged several big band charts for the band and took on the role of musical director from 2004 to 2006. After graduating from the University of the Pacific with a bachelor’s degree in music performance, Mr. Schwartz went on to perform with the San Jose Wind Symphony as lead alto saxophone (for the 2003-2004 season) and joined Tableaux des Sax, a classical saxophone quartet. Mr. Schwartz has also performed in the orchestras of a variety of theater groups, such as San Jose Lyric Theater, Sunnyvale Community Theater and West Valley College Theater. In addition to woodwind performance, Mark has scored and recorded music for several independent film shorts.

Ted Brown, tenor saxophone, is a mechanical engineer who played clarinet, saxophone and piano throughout school, but gave up most of his music during his working career. He became active again in the last ten years, playing in the Sereno Saxophone Quartet and various jazz ensembles.

Jerome Nehemiah, baritone saxophone, is a physician who started on clarinet as a young student and currently plays clarinet or saxophone in various groups, including the Sereno Saxophone Quartet, a jazz quintet, two jazz ensembles and the San Jose Wind Symphony. He is a founder, along with Mark Schwartz, of the Los Gatos/Saratoga Big Band.