Ruiqi Liu

Ruiqi Liu is a freshman at Northwestern’s Flute Studio. He started playing flute in April 2019, and has studied as a Precollege student at the Manhattan School of Music. Ruiqi has been selected to perform in the 2022 New York State Band Directors Association (NYSBDA) Honor Concert Band, in the 2023 and 2024 Nassau Music Education Association’s All-County Music Festival Band, and has been chosen to perform in the 2024 New York All-State Festival Wind Ensemble as the principal flute. He performed regularly in his high school as a member of the Tri-M Honor Society, accompaning Mozart’s operas Cosi Fan Tutte and The Marriage of Figaro, Rogers & Hammerstein’s musical Oklahoma!, and Lippa, Brickman & Elice’s The Addams Family musical. Over the summer after 10th grade, he has studied under Peter Schultz at the Kinhaven Senior Session and performed many chamber pieces in the camp. His repertoire includes pieces from many periods of music, from baroque music to modern compositions.

Joshua Rascón

Alice Oh

Alice (Juhye) Oh is a third-year undergraduate studying flute performance and journalism at Northwestern University. Prior to Northwestern, she studied under Isabelle Chapuis and Yuna Kim in the Bay Area in California. Alice was a member of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra (2020-2023) and Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra. In the summer of 2023, she attended the BUTI Young Artists’ Orchestra program and was chosen to perform at Tanglewood on Parade with her woodwind quintet. Most recently, she performed the Ibert Concerto with the Livermore-Amador Symphony. At the Aria International Academy, Consummate Flutist, and Idyllwild Academy, she performed in masterclasses with Lorna McGhee, Bonita Boyd, Alberto Almarza, and Demarre McGill. Alice has won top prizes in the Enkor Competition, Pelican International Music Competition, American Protégé Competition, and KAMSA Competition. Previously, Alice was president and vice music director of Tri Valley Symphonics, an ensemble bringing music to libraries and senior centers.

Hanna Oyasu is a third-year undergraduate student from Palatine, Illinois, pursuing a dual degree in flute performance and neuroscience at Northwestern University. She currently studies flute under John Thorne and piccolo under Jennifer Gunn and Alyce Johnson. Her previous teachers include James Donahue and Hideko Amano. Hanna is an alumna of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Symphony Orchestra, CORE chamber orchestra, and chamber music program. She has had the privilege of performing at Carnegie Hall and several halls across Europe on tour with CYSO’s Symphony Orchestra. Hanna has also appeared on WFMT’s Introductions both as a soloist and as a member of CYSO. Over the years, she has participated in masterclasses with Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson, Emma Gerstein, Marina Piccinini, Christina Smith, and Demarre McGill, among others. Hanna has spent her summers at the Aspen Music Festival, the Flute Seminar at the Brevard Music Center, and the Young Artists Orchestra at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. In her free time, Hanna enjoys exploring new cafés and baking new recipes for her friends and family.

Emma Cranford

Emma Cranford is first-year master’s student at Northwestern University. She is from Austin, Texas, where she has freelanced and taught. She instructed private flute lessons at Westlake and Bowie High Schools, and performed regularly with the Austin Flute Choir and as a substitute flutist with the Balcones Orchestra. She graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance (2024). While at FSU she finaled in the FSU Young Artist Competition, earned first prize in the Austin Flute Society Young Artist Competition, and performed with the University Symphony Orchestra as well as the Baroque Ensemble and various other university ensembles. Her High School achievements include qualifying for the Texas All-State Ensemble, participating in All-Region orchestras and bands, and performing as a member of the Texas Youth Wind Symphony. She also won first prize in the Westlake Concerto Showcase Competition, performing the Mike Mower Flute Concerto with the Westlake Wind Ensemble, and was a prize winner in the AFS Young Artist Competition. Her previous teachers include Eva Amsler, Dr. Karen Large, and Alison Baker.

Olivia Dorer

Olivia Dorer is a first year master’s student studying Flute Performance. She recently graduated with her Bachelor of Music degree in Flute Performance from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where she studied with Kathryn Lukas and Carmen Maret. Throughout her time at IU, she performed in their Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, and Philharmonic Orchestra, the latter of which she premiered The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay: a two act opera in co-production with The Metropolitan Opera that is set to debut with The Met. this fall. Olivia has also furthered her studies at various summer festivals, which include Aria International Summer Academy, Eastern Music Festival, Orford Musique Academy, and Miami Music Festival. Outside of music, she loves reading, cooking, and baking.

Carina Geist

Carina Geist is a first-year master’s student at Northwestern University. She is a recent graduate of the Mannes School of Music, where she studied with Judith Mendenhall, principal flute of the American Ballet Theatre. During her time at Mannes, she performed at Carnegie Hall with the Mannes Sounds Festival, at Alice Tully Hall with the Mannes Orchestra, and recorded for the WQXR Young Artists Showcase. She was a member of the CoPA Flute Ensemble, directed by Valerie Coleman. She has performed in masterclasses with Karl Heinz Schutz, Trudy Kane, Sharon Sparrow, Nina Assimakopoulos, and Jean-Louis Beaumadier. Her festival experience includes Flutes by the Sea, The Consummate Flutist, Carol Wincenc’s Creating Resonance retreat, and Interharmony International Music Festival. She received honorable mention in the 2022 Flute Society of Greater Philadelphia Collegiate Artist Competition. Outside of school, Carina loves amateur triathlons, video game soundtracks, cats, and overplanning for the holidays. She aspires to a career as an orchestral flutist and teacher.

Andy Hankes

Andy Hankes is first-year master’s student studying flute performance at Northwestern University. Originally from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Andy is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Bonita Boyd and Anne Harrow, and performed with the Eastman Philharmonia and Eastman Wind Ensemble. As a soloist, Andy was recently named as a winner of the 2024 Yamaha Young Performing Artist Competition, and also won third prize in the Austin Flute Society Young Artist Competition. He received an honorable mention at the Flute Society of Greater Philadelphia Collegiate Artist Competition, and has performed as a First Listen artist at the Mt. Gretna Playhouse. Andy has attended multiple summer music festivals, including the Pierre Monteux Music Festival, Lake George Music Festival, and Sewanee Summer Music Festival.

Benjamin Hosking

Benjamin Hosking is a first-year master’s student studying flute performance at Northwestern University. He received a Bachelor of Music in Classical Performance from Victoria University of Wellington, where he studied under Johanna Gruskin.

Born in New Zealand, Benjamin moved to the United States at a young age. He started playing the flute at age eleven. During high school he was a member of the OMEA All-State Symphonic Band and Symphony Orchestra, and won the Metropolitan Youth Symphony’s Concerto Competition with fellow flutist Molly Duggan in 2019. He started his collegiate flute studies at Portland State University, before returning to New Zealand to finish his studies at the New Zealand School of Music. While in New Zealand he performed with the NZSM’s Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and around the Wellington area solo and in various chamber groups. He was also a part of the NZ National Youth Orchestra in 2024, and was coached by members of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

Isabel Evernham

Isabel Evernham is a second-year master’s student at Northwestern University. She graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music with a B.M. in Flute Performance studying flute and piccolo with Cindy Meyers, the piccolo of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. During her time in Boston, she often performed with the NEC Philharmonia and Wind Ensemble. She was also the principal piccolo of the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, performing regularly in Boston’s Symphony Hall, as well as on international tours to South Africa and Europe.

Isabel began her studies at age ten in Nashville, Tennessee, studying with Leslie Fagan through the Nashville Symphony’s Accelerando Program. She has had the pleasure of participating in masterclasses with Lorna McGhee, Paula Robison, Valerie Coleman, James Galway, and Amanda Harberg, among others. In recent years, she has taken part in various summer festivals, including Orford Musique, PRISMA Festival & Academy, and the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute. Isabel is a current Associate Member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and can be seen performing regularly with local ensembles around the Chicago area.

When she is not playing her flute, Isabel enjoys exploring new coffee shops around the city, crocheting, and trying out new recipes.

Maggie Umanetz-Lertprasopsak

Maggie Umanetz-Lertprasopsak is a Thai-Canadian flutist from Toronto, Canada. Throughout her bachelor’s degree at the University of Toronto, Maggie was the recipient of many honours including the University of Toronto Scholars Award (2019), the Howard F. Andrews Memorial Prize (2020), Percy Faith Award (2021), and was a candidate for the 2023 Rhodes Scholarship.

As a chamber musician, Maggie has worked in numerous ensembles, including the University of Toronto’s Contemporary Music Ensemble, which performed the Canadian Premiere of Flux, by George Lewis. She has also freelanced with the Brott Music Festival and occupies a substitute position with the Mandel Philharmonic. Maggie has attended many summer festivals including Domaine Forget, where she studied with renowned flutists Julien Beaudiment, Susan Hoeppner, Jacinthe Forand and Emmanuel Pahud, and the 2022 National Academy Orchestra of Canada, where she worked with the prominent conductor Alain Trudel.

Maggie completed her Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Toronto, where she was a student of Kelly Zimba-Lukic, Leslie Newman, and Stephen Tam. She is now pursuing a Master of Music degree at Northwestern University, where she is the recipient of the Eckstein Scholarship. Maggie is studying with John Thorne, a sought after pedagogue and performer, Jennifer Gunn and Alyce Johnson.

Cierra Hall

Cierra Hall is a first-year doctoral student and graduate assistant at Northwestern University. Cierra began studying classical music at the Baltimore School for the Arts. She then received her Bachelor of Music Degree from Manhattan School of Music. She received her Master of Music Degree from the University of Miami, where she was also a Henry Mancini Institute Fellow and teaching assistant in chamber music.

In New York City, Cierra served as principal flutist of the New York Youth Symphony and performed a variety of orchestral repertoire at Carnegie Hall. In 2020, she received the Vetter -Vargas/Ukena fellowship. At Manhattan School of Music, Cierra’s wind quintet was a selected winner of the Lillian Fuchs Chamber Music Competition.

As an orchestral musician, Cierra has performed with Symphonia Boca Raton and Opera Naples. She is a substitute musician for the New World Symphony and a regular member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra. Cierra has attended Festival Napa Valley, Kent Blossom Music Festival, and Sewanee Summer Music Festival. In the past, she has performed in masterclasses for Demarre McGill, Nadine Asin, Amy Porter, and Ransom Wilson. In 2022, Cierra was honored with the Pierians Young Arts Award. Aside from performing, Cierra is a dedicated music teacher. Cierra is recognized as a Wm. S. Haynes Young Artist.