Joanna Goldstein
Joanna Goldstein (piano, University Orchestra director) is Professor of Music at Indiana University Southeast. She was also formerly the Dean of the School of Arts & Letters until 2001. In addition to her piano studio, she directs the Indiana University Southeast Orchestra. Joanna earned her Bachelor of Music degree summa cum laude at Temple University, her Masters of Music at The Juilliard School and a Ph. D. from New York University. She also studied at the Academy for Music and the Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria as a Fulbright-Hays Scholar and has received numerous honors including winning the Philadelphia Orchestra Young Artist Competition on two occasions, the National Arts Club Competition and the Mason-Hamlin Competition.
As a solo pianist, Joanna has performed with the Louisville Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as several regional orchestras in the U.S. Dr. Goldstein has performed solo recitals and chamber music throughout the United States, England, Austria, and Germany and has recorded for South German Radio and appeared on WQXR in New York, as well as public radio in the Philadelphia area and in Louisville. She is a founding member of the Kentucky Center Chamber Players which has performed a subscription series in the Louisville area since the 1982-1983 season. This chamber group has also toured and played educational concerts throughout the tri-state area and recorded for National Public Radio. The ensemble has two CD recordings “Between Tides” on Centaur Records and “Four on the Floor” on New Dynamic Records. Dr. Goldstein has two additional CD’s released on Centaur Records featuring women composers of the early 20th century entitled Nasty Women and They Persisted.
Dr. Goldstein is the author of A Beethoven Enigma: Performance Practice and the Piano Sonata, Opus 111, Peter Lang Publishers, Inc. She has been the recipient of The Excellence in Research and Creativity Award at Indiana University Southeast and is a member of FACET, The Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching at Indiana University. Dr. Goldstein is a member of the Fulbright-Hays Association, The College Music Society, and The National Association of Schools of Music.
Jamie Reimer Seaman, Soprano
Soprano Jamie Reimer has performed in opera, oratorio and recital venues around the United States, Italy, Germany, Brazil, and Australia. Her concert appearances include performances of Mozart Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Choral Fantasy, as well as Liszt’s Christus for the American Liszt Society’s international festival. Favorite operatic repertoire includes Fiordiligi (Cosi fan tutte), Contessa Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Erste Dame (Die Zauberflote), and Anna Maurrant (Street Scene). She has performed with Opera Omaha, Omaha Symphony Chamber Orchestra, Lincoln Symphony, Hastings Symphony, and the Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra. She has also appeared in several musical theater roles, including Tessa (The Gondoliers), Rapunzel (Into the Woods), and Martha Jefferson (1776).
With a particular interest in contemporary American art song, Reimer’s research focuses on the life and work of composer Robert Owens. In 2012, she gave the world premiere of Owens’ 4 Sonnets to Eleonora Duse, composed for her voice, and performed the role of Ursula in the North American premiere of his opera Culture! Culture! in 2015. Reimer’s work has been published in the Journal of Singing and Pan Pipes, and she is a frequent lecturer throughout the United States and abroad for conferences of the National Opera Association, National Association of Teachers of Singing, Festival 500: The Phenomenon of Singing, the International Symposium for Performance Science and the International Congress of Voice Teachers.
Reimer serves as Associate Professor of Voice at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Her responsibilities include teaching applied voice and courses in opera techniques. She previously taught at Midland Lutheran College (Fremont, NE). Her scholarly work has earned several awards, including a National Association of Teachers of Singing Internship, John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts Internship, the Othmer Fellowship, the Maude Hammond Fling Fellowship and the Theodore Presser Scholar award. She also serves Artist-Faculty at the Orfeo Music Festival in Vipiteno, Italy.
Dr. Reimer’s students have achieved recognition at the National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Awards, Orfeo Music Festival International Competition, and Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, and perform regularly in significant programs around the world, including the American Institute for Musical Studies (Graz, Austria), Austrian-American Mozart Academy, Pensacola Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Orfeo Music Festival, Atlantic Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Broadway Dreams Foundation, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Reimer earned the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees at UNL, and the Bachelor of Music at Hastings College. She is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, College Music Society, National Opera Association, and Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity.
Christine Erlander Beard, Flute
Described by the Canadian journal Flute Focus as “…having shattered any notions that the piccolo might be lacking in deep, expressive powers,” flutist Christine Erlander Beard enjoys an active international career as a soloist, chamber artist and teacher. A passionate performer noted for her “great expressive tone and range” (Christopher Caliendo, composer) and her “…capacity to reveal the deep soul of a composition” (Martin Rokeach, composer), she has performed extensively across North America, South America and Europe, including fifteen conventions of the National Flute Association and three British Flute Society International Conventions. A regular guest artist in the flute festival circuit, she has performed and taught at the International Piccolo Festival (Italy), the Zodiac Festival (France), the Adams Flute Festival (The Netherlands), and at international flute festivals in Canada, Costa Rica, Honduras, Peru, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Portugal, among others. Upcoming engagements include festival appearances in Brazil, Chicago, Dallas, New York City, Puerto Rico, Sacramento, and Spain.
As a concerto soloist, highlights of recent seasons include performances with the Orquestra Filarmonica de Mendoza (Argentina), the Orquestra Sinfônica de Porto Alegre (Brazil), the Orchestra Harmonia Mundi (Italy), the San Jose Chamber Orchestra (CA), the Little Rock Wind Symphony (AR), and the Nebraska Wind Symphony. Recently awarded Second Prize in the prestigious American Prize Competition’s Professional Soloist division (2018-2019), Christine can be heard alongside the French piccolo legend Jean-Louis Beaumadier on his CD, Postcards: World Piccolo, Vol. 2 (SKARBO label); with Brazilian guitarist Daniel Wolff on his newest CD, Iberoamericano (Novodisc label 2018); and with Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band on two recordings: their inaugural CD, Victorian Era Music for Brass Band by Thomas Coates (MSR Classics label), and their 2nd CD, Wind Band Music of the Gilded Age, which features Beard performing August Damm’s “Through the Air” for solo piccolo and brass band (also on the MSR Classics label).
Passionate about collaborating with composers, Christine has commissioned and/or premiered dozens of new works from composers across the globe. Well known for her decade-long collaborations with British composer Matthew Smith, her most recent commissioning projects include joining consortiums for new music for flute by Amanda Harberg, Samuel Zyman and Valerie Coleman; and new piccolo compositions by Amanda Harberg, Jim Stephenson, and Daniel Wolff. Her newest endeavor is to encourage music with social justice themes that inspire dialogue and social activism: #theflutistactivist initiative will bring forth three new pieces in 2019-2020: the first for flute and mixed media by Leanna Keith based on gun violence in the USA; and two works for piccolo and piano inspired by the USA’s southern border crisis by prominent composers who themselves immigrated to the United States: Herman Beeftink (The Netherlands) and Samuel Zyman (Mexico).
In 2007, Beard founded the International Piccolo Symposium, an intense 4-day workshop held at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The goal of IPS is to bring piccolo players and enthusiasts together from all over the world to learn about and discuss solo, chamber and orchestral music featuring the piccolo, and pedagogical issues specific to the piccolo, led by some of the world’s leading piccolo players. A member of the NFA’s Piccolo Committee and Scholarship Committee, and a contributing editor for the NFA’s The Flutist Quarterly, her pedagogical articles and columns have been published in Flute Talk, The Flutist Quarterly, Flutewise, and The Instrumentalist.
Beard earned her MM and DMA in flute performance from The University of Texas at Austin in 2003 where she was a student of Karl F. Kraber. She joined the faculty at the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2002 where she was named UNO’s Outstanding Graduate Mentor in 2011 and was selected as UNO’s recipient for its campus-wide Award for Distinguished Research or Creative Activity (ADROCA) in 2019. A regular substitute player with the Omaha and Sioux City Symphonies, she was added to the Sankyo Flutes international artist roster in 2016, and also became a piccolo artist for Hernandez Flutes in 2017. Christine plays on a 5K-DT Sankyo flute with an 18K Sankyo headjoint, and on a Burkart Elite Deluxe multi-trill piccolo paired with a headjoint made by Julio Hernandez.
Stacie Haneline, Piano
Admired for her consummate skill and for her “musical excellence which is overshadowed only by her generous spirit and kindness to her colleagues” (Thomas Wilkins, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Boston Symphony and Omaha Symphony), pianist Stacie Haneline maintains an active career as a pianist in symphonic, chamber, opera, vocal and instrumental repertoire. A versatile musician, she has performed as a pianist for the Sydney Opera House, New York City Opera, Kennedy Center, Hawaii Opera, Virginia Symphony, Virginia Opera, Brooklyn Academy of Music, University of Australia, Brevard Music Center, Omaha Symphony and Opera Omaha to name a few.
Recent performance highlights include the Zodiac Chamber Festival in Nice, France; the premiere of Leslie Adams Dunbar Songs, at the African-American Arts Song Alliance with soprano Gail Robinson-Orturo; and an evening with Broadway Legend Kimilee Bryant at the Venetian Arts Society in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
An established collaborator with Nebraska-based soprano, Jamie Reimer the two were honored performers at the African American Arts Song Alliance featuring Robert Owens’ 4 Sonnets to Duse. The team recorded music of Robert Owens’ which is set to be released in November 2020 by Centaur Records. Active recitalists, Reimer and Haneline perform regularly throughout the United States. The duo are also dedicated to cutting-edge research on collaborative partnerships between singers and pianists. Reimer and Haneline have been invited to present their findings at conferences in Stockholm, Sweden and Reykjavik, Iceland, and National Association of Teachers of Singing Conventions throughout the U.S.A.
Stacie also frequently joins flutist Christine Beard with whom she has performed at flute festivals in Ecuador, Honduras, Italy and France, Puerto Rico, as well as numerous recitals and concert series in the United States. The two advocate for performances of compositions featuring the piccolo and flute which speaks to social justice issues. Stacie’s avid accomplishments as a chamber artist garnered her recognition as a semi-finalist for the coveted American Prize in Chamber Music in 2016.
Ms. Haneline’s arts administration experience extends nationally as the former Executive Director of the Omaha Chamber Music Society and Artistic Director of Vesper Concert Series. Stacie created numerous opportunities for artists to perform throughout the mid-west. Stacie is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and Converse College. As the Coordinator for the Collaborative Piano program at the University of Nebraska at Omaha she also serves as the collaborative pianist for visiting artists, faculty, and ensembles.
Karina Brazas, Soprano
Praised as “sumptuous and soaring” by the Omaha World Herald, soprano Karina Brazas maintains an active career as a performer and teacher. Her teaching experience includes six years of private studio in the Omaha area, as well as experience as a guest clinician at private festivals, competitions, and universities. Her students have frequently been awarded best soloist and performer, participated in All State Choir, received superior ratings at district music competition, and been accepted to study music at institutions such as the University of Kansas, Columbia College, Indiana University, Nebraska Wesleyan, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and others. Karina’s performance experience includes singing leading roles with orchestras and opera companies across the United States. Some of her recent stage highlights include Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and Maya in the Three Way, all with Shreveport Opera, as well as Yum-Yum in The Mikado and Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Union Avenue Opera in Saint Louis. Her professional debut was Kitty Hart in Dead Man Walking with Central City Opera in Colorado, where she also sang as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, and joined the cast of The Sound of Music.
Her performances in Omaha include Gretel in Hansel and Gretel with Opera Omaha’s education performances, Enitharmon in Opera Omaha’s world premiere of Stranger from Paradise, and as the soprano soloist in the Omaha Symphony’s performance of Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night Dream. Other performances include engagements with orchestras in Washington state, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska. Karina holds a Bachelor of Music from Washington State University in Vocal Performance, and a Master of Music from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Vocal Performance. A proud “Army Brat,” her family settled in Washington state when she was ten. When not singing or teaching, she enjoys baking, reading, and hanging out with her husband, daughter, and their demanding shih tzu. More information can be found at www.karinabrazas.com
Grazzia Sagastume, Viola
Grazzia Sagastume is a Honduran-American violist and violinist. She began her musical education on the viola at age 13 in the “Escuela de Música Victoriano López” in her home city, San Pedro Sula, with Maestro Mario Alejandro Torres. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Music at Western Illinois University studying viola with Dr. István Szabó and chamber music with Dr. Richard Hughey. While attending WIU she was awarded a full scholarship, performed in the prestigious “President’s International String Quartet”, and was a member of the Quincy Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Grazzia then graduated from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque with a Master in Music with dual concentrations in Viola Performance and String Pedagogy. While in New Mexico, she studied viola and violin with Susan Kempter, Kimberly Fredenburgh and Carmelo de los Santos. In her capacity as graduate assistant, she was actively performing chamber music with the “Abe Franck Graduate String Quartet” and UNM’s New Music Ensemble. She also performed professionally with New Mexico Philharmonic, Santa Fe Symphony, Performance Santa Fe Symphony, and San Juan Symphony in Durango, CO. Also an active teacher, Ms. Grazzia taught at the Young Musician’s Initiative (El Sistema Albuquerque), the UNM Lab School (Suzuki), and mantained a private studio. While in Albuquerque, she also completed training in all Suzuki violin books 1-10 with nationally renowned pedagogue, Susan Kempter.
Ms. Grazzia is a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas, the American String Teachers Association, and the Omaha Musician’s Union. Since moving to Omaha, Ms. Grazzia has been teaching diligently as lead teacher with the String Sprouts program, private violin and viola lessons at Omaha Conservatory of Music, violin group classes, music theory classes, and coaching chamber music with the Omaha Area Youth Orchestras. She has performed with Omaha Symphony, Mannheim Steamroller, Voices of Omaha, Orchestra Omaha, and as a local with the Omaha Performing Arts’ Broadway tour shows “Cinderella” and “Phantom of the Opera”.
This summer 2017, Ms. Grazzia attended the Retreat for Violin and Viola teachers at Indiana University. This was an intensive String Academy pedagogy workshop where she studied with prominent US pedagogues Mimi Zweig, Rebecca Henry, Brenda Brenner, Sherry Sinift, James Przygocki, and Elizabeth Zempel.
In her spare time, Ms Grazzia enjoys cooking, baking, running, reading, listening to Brazilian music, and savoring a warm cup of tea or coffee!
Tammy Miller, Piano
Pianist, Tammy Miller is in demand as a soloist, collaborator, and teacher. She has performed throughout the U.S. with recent performances in Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, Wisconsin, Idaho, and Iowa as well as a recent solo performance in the Esterházy Palace located in Eisenstadt, Austria. A competition winner, she was a finalist in the 2013 Musician’s West Young Artist Piano Competition and a semifinalist in the 2014 Naftzger Young Artist Piano Competition, among many others.
Passionate about 20th and 21st century music, she presented a lecture-recital on Alberto Ginastera’s Piano Sonata No. 1 in April 2016 to commemorate the composer’s 100th birthday. She is also working on a large-scale commission project with some of our generations most prominent composers that will culminate in a commercial CD release. Composers such as Libby Larsen, Noelia Escalzo, William F. Montgomery, and Daniel Baldwin have written solo piano works for the project.
Tammy has appeared in recital with William Harvey, violinist and founder of Cultures in Harmony. Another recent collaboration with Lewis Lipnick, contrabassoonist of the National Symphony, resulted in two subsequent performances with him at the International Double Reed Society (IDRS) Conference at the Lawrence Conservatory. She has commercially recorded Daniel Baldwin’s Sonic Rhapsody for Contrabassoon, Piano, and Chamber Winds, with Steven Braunstein of the San Fransisco Symphony.
A dedicated teacher, Tammy enjoys working with students of all ages and levels. Her approach to teaching is inspired by her background in psychology, pedagogy, and over 10 years of experience. She has previously taught applied and group piano at the Idaho State University Preparatory Piano Program and the University of Oklahoma as a graduate teaching assistant. Currently, she is artist-faculty at the Omaha Conservatory and instructor of piano at Iowa Western Community College.
Tammy earned a performance degree with concentrations in piano and voice from Idaho State University (B.M.) and a piano performance and pedagogy degree from the prestigious pedagogy program at the University of Oklahoma (M.M.). Her primary teachers include Kori Bond, Virginia Willard, Paul Barnes, Jeongwon Ham, and pedagogy studies with famed pedagogue Jane Magrath.
Lisa Nielsen, Violin
Lisa Nielsen is an active Suzuki violin teacher in Lincoln and Omaha for over 20 years and is active in developing and nurturing their music experience through solo performance and in chamber music and orchestra performances during the summer and throughout the year. Lisa teaches strings at Union College in Lincoln. As a professional violinist, she performs in the Omaha and Lincoln Symphonies and leads Classic Quartet, a professional freelance string quartet. She has performed with Mannheim Steamroller, and is a member of the Nebraska Chamber Symphony Orchestra. In the summer she is a member of the Lakeside Symphony Orchestra in Lakeside, Ohio. Ms. Nielsen holds a Bachelor or Music degree from the Mannes College of Music where she was a student of Shirley Givens, and holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln where she was a student of Arnold Schatz.
Ms. Nielsen’s love of chamber music and orchestral literature has taken her to festivals all over the world including the American Conservatory at Fontainbleau France, Aspen, Grand Teton’s Orchestral Seminar and Chatauqua in New York among others.
InYoung Park, Cello
Cellist InYoung Park holds her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Mannes School of Music in New York City where she studied with Timothy Eddy and Paul Tobias.
InYoung has spent time in festivals such as The Banff Centre for the Arts, The Great Mountain Music Festival & School, Music Mountain, Summit Music Festival, and Colorado College Summer Music Festival, and has worked with David Geringas, Frans Helmerson, Natasha Brofsky, Julia Lichten, Colin Carr, Bion Tsang as well as Kim Kashkashian, Ayano Ninomiya, and the Orion String Quartet.
As an orchestral player, InYoung has performed with the Omaha Symphony, the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
InYoung is currently a cellist in the Omaha Chamber Music Society and happy to be a part of their outreach program to share a joy of music with people.