Kelly Sulick

Kelly Sulick currently teaches at the University of Virginia and at Longwood University, and serves as Principal Flute in the Charlottesville Symphony. Prior to her appointment, she served as Principal Flute with the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra and as Consortium Instructor of Flute at the University of Evansville for three years. She earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts from the Peabody Conservatory, her Master of Music degree in Flute Performance from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelor of Music degree in Flute Performance and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Michigan, where she graduated with highest honors and was named a James B. Angell Scholar for her academic achievements.  

An active orchestral musician, Dr. Sulick has performed with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, the Ash Lawn Opera Orchestra, the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Kentucky, and the Livingston (MI) Symphony. She completed three seasons as principal flute with the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra in Los Angeles, California. Hailed as “flawless” by the Evansville Courier Press for a concerto performance with the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, Sulick has also appeared as a concerto soloist with ensembles throughout the country, including the Southern Illinois Music Festival Orchestra, the Charlottesville Symphony, and most recently the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and alongside Sir James Galway at the Kennedy Center. Equally at home on the concert and popular stages, Dr. Sulick has performed and recorded with several rock bands, including The New Fidelity, a Mod-Power Pop outfit from southern California; Superdot, a world music group based in Detroit; Homesick Elephant, a folk duo from Los Angeles; and Michigan singer-songwriter Timothy Monger.  

A champion of new music, she has commissioned and recorded dozens of works for solo flute and flute with electronics, and has premiered several additional works for solo flute and chamber ensemble. She has performed at the SEAMUS National Conference, the Atlas INTERSECTIONS festival, the TomTom Founders Festival, the Technosonics Festival, and the Minimalist Jukebox series, a music festival curated by John Adams. She has worked with such notable composers as Leslie Bassett, William Bolcom, Matthew Burtner, Evan Chambers, Michael Daugherty, Karel Husa, Daniel Kessner, Lowell Liebermann, Judith Shatin, and Frank Ticheli, among others. 

An avid chamber musician, she is the co-founder of .thrum, a new music collective, and is a member of the EcoSono Ensemble, an eco-acoustic cohort that explores connections between music, technology, and environmental activism. She also performs regularly as a member of the Albemarle Ensemble, the University of Virginia faculty woodwind quintet, and served for eight seasons as Director of the University of Virginia Chamber Music Series. 

Dr. Sulick maintains a national profile as a performer and educator, having performed and presented at eight National Flute Association Conventions, the International Double Reed Society Conference, the Richmond Flute Fest, the Hampton Roads Flute Faire, and at multiple Mid-Atlantic Flute Conventions. She has given masterclasses throughout the country; most recent engagements include the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Penn State University Flute Day, Virginia Tech, Western Kentucky University, CalArts, and San Diego State University. She served as Guest Artist for the 2012 Hampton Roads Flute Faire. Active within the flute community, she served as President of the Flute Society of Washington and as Chair of the Flute Clubs Committee of the National Flute Association, and was the Volunteer Coordinator for the 2015 National Flute Association Convention in Washington, D.C. She also founded the University of Virginia Flute Forum,  a free annual flute festival featuring guest artists, masterclasses, and recitals accessible to all members of the community. 

Dr. Sulick won second place in the 2010 National Flute Association’s Young Artist Competition, and was awarded the prize for the best performance of Kristin P. Kuster’s “Perpetual Afternoon.” She can be heard on several compact discs, including William Bolcom’s “Songs of Innocence and of Experience” under Leonard Slatkin, a Naxos release that received four Grammy awards including Best Classical Album. Her album Duo with pianist John Mayhood, which features twentieth- and twenty-first century works for flute and piano, was released on Centaur Records in late 2022.  Additional recordings are also available on the Equilibrium, Other Minds, and Ravello Records labels. 

Her principal teachers include Marina Piccinini, Amy Porter, and Jim Walker.

Simone Mauer

Simone Maurer is a classical-contemporary flutist, tertiary educator, researcher of music psychology, and a Certified Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analyst based in Melbourne (Naarm), Australia.

Artistically, Simone specialises in contemporary solo flute repertoire, frequently collaborating with local and international composers to assist the composition of new works for/with flute. Simone uses her movement analysis training to incorporate choreographed body movement, staging, and lighting into performances.

Simone researches within the broad fields of music psychology, performance studies, and music education. Using her movement analysis training, Simone researches the embodied cognition – i.e., body language – of flute players. By categorising, tracking, and analysing movement patterns, she is able to understand the connection between how flute players cognitively understand the music they play and how they externally express that on stage.

As an educator, Simone applies her movement analysis research into teaching by coaching the embodiment of musicians, actors, and dancers. She also teaches music psychology, aural musicianship, music theory, and movement analysis at a tertiary level.

Simone trained in Laban/Bartenieff movement analysis at the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in NYC: https://labaninstitute.org/​

Fabiana Magrinelli Dahmer

Dr. Fabiana Magrinelli Dahmer holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from The University of Southern Mississippi, a Master of Music from Southeastern Louisiana University, a Bachelor of Music from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.

With a wide experience as an orchestral musician, Dr. Magrinelli has performed with many orchestras in the United States and abroad. For almost ten years she served as Principal Flute of orchestras in South Brazil such the UCS Symphony Orchestra and PUCRS Philharmonic Orchestra. She also performed with a variety of wind ensembles such as Caxias do Sul Wind Symphony Orchestra and Novo Hamburgo Symphonic Band, and was guest musician in orchestras such as OSPA, Unisinos, and SESC orchestras. Since moving to the United States, she has performed with many orchestras in the South such as Meridian Symphony Orchestra, Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Gulf Coast Symphony Orchestra, and Festival South Orchestra.

As an educator, Dr. Magrinelli was the Flute Instructor of the University of Caxias do Sul for several years. She was the School of Music Director of the University of Caxias do Sul from 2008 to 2009 and helped to implement the Music Program at that university. Currently, she is the Adjunct Instructor of Flute at the University of Mobile and teaches at the Music Education Program of the Mobile Symphony Orchestra. She also and maintains a successful private flute studio in Hattiesburg, MS.

Dr. Magrinelli’s doctoral dissertation entitled “The Influences of the French Flute School in Brazilian Flute Pedagogy” was a winner of the 2018 National Flute Association Research Competition.

Danilo Mezzadri

Danilo Mezzadri is an ACUE Distinguished Teaching Scholar and Professor of Flute at the University of Southern Mississippi. Danilo is president and founder of International Flute Workshop (England) and Southern Flute Festival (MS). He is also serves on faculty at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp (MI), Festival Mar de Minas (Brazil) and Festival de Música Contemporânea Plurisons (Brasil) .
 
Danilo’s performances have been reviewed as “gorgeous” (Flute Quarterly and Detroit Free Press) “with a limpid sound, and coaxing every ounce of lyricism” (Jackson Citizen Patriot). His CD Brazilian Soundscapes, was regarded as “music of a high order that deserves a welcome from a global audience” (The American Record Guide). In his solo CD Epigrams, Danilo is described as having “glowing, golden tone” and “vivid musicality bringing each work to life, regardless of tonality” (Fanfarre Magazine). He also was described as having “a lovely ‘voice’ with an enviable dexterity” (British Flute Society). In his most recent CD, entitled Romantic Transcriptions, Danilo has been praised for his “large range of colors, dynamics, and emotions” (Flute Quarterly).
 
Considered one of the “great names in Brazilian Music” (Gazeta do Povo), Danilo is a prize winner in many competitions, such as the International Porto Alegre Symphonic Orchestra Young Instrumentalist Competition, Michigan State University Honors Concerto Competition, and the Brazilian International Flute Association Competition. His performances have been broadcast by Rede Vida Television in Brazil and by National Public Radio in the US.
 
Danilo Mezzadri has appeared as a soloist with more than forty ensembles, including Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Jackson Symphony Orchestra, Pró-Música Symphony Orchestra of Rio de Janeiro, and Camerata Florianópolis.
 
Besides being Principal Flute at Gulf Coast and North Mississippi Symphony Orchestras, Danilo Mezzadri has annually served as a guest teacher and soloist throughout the Americas and Europe. In 2023 Danilo is performing concerts and recital in Brazil, Italy, and Spain.
 
Danilo Mezzadri is the creator of the Spider Log interleaved practice system with graphic feedback. Through his system, Danilo has helped many young musicians develop repertoire and technical mastery on their instrument.
 
Danilo Mezzadri earned his Bachelors degree at Escola de Música e Belas Arts do Paraná where he received the First Prize Award in his graduation class. He also earned a Bachelors in Public Law from the prestigious Universidade Federal do Paraná. He earned a Master of Music in flute performance, Master of Musicology, and Doctor of Musical Arts in flute performance from Michigan State University.

Zhaolei Xie

Chinese Pianist Zhaolei Xie was a winner in the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, which led to his debut in Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2006. He also won the Bronze Medal in the 58th Wideman International Piano Competition. His other awards include the First place in the Young Artist Division of the Tourgee DeBose National Piano Competition in Baton Rouge; Winner of Monroe Symphony Young Artists Competition, Mid-Texas Symphony Young Artist Competition and Texas Christian University Piano Concerto Competition; Second place in the Louisiana Music Teachers Association Collegiate Artist Competition of MTNA and Texas Young Artists Competition.

Mr. Xie has appeared as orchestral soloist with the Monroe Symphony Orchestra, Mid-Texas Symphony Orchestra, Texas Christian University Symphony Orchestra and Southeastern Louisiana University Chamber Orchestra. He is also active as a recitalist, chamber musician and piano accompanist. Mr. Xie has performed piano solo and chamber music in Ed Landreth Auditorium and PepsiCo Recital Hall in Texas and Miller Recital Hall and Greenfield Hall in New York City. He has served as piano accompanist in Southeastern Louisiana University and the Thurnauer School of Music of Kaplen JCC on the Palisades in New Jersey. Mr. Xie has participated in master classes given by Leslie Howard , Yoheved Kaplinsky and Jose Feghali.

Mr. Xie received his piano training in Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China and St. Petersburg State Conservatory of Music, Russia from 1993-2004. He earned his Bachelor’s degree with honors from Southeastern Louisiana University, where he was a student of David Evenson and Kenneth Boulton. Mr. Xie holds Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from Manhattan School of Music, and Artist Diploma from Texas Christian University, where he studied with Marc Silverman and John Owings. He is a member of PHI KAPPA PHI National Honor Society. In 2014, Mr. Xie was appointed as Staff Accompanist in The University of Southern Mississippi.

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