Astraios presents a variety of musicians and instruments.
Here are some of our previous guest artists:
Susanna Campbell
Harp
​
Susanna Campbell is a passionate and experienced music educator and performer based in Houston, Texas. Recent concert highlights include the world premiere of Gary Schocker’s Heaven’s Above for the American Harp Society’s National Conference, and the debut concert of AURORA – a harp, flute, and cello ensemble embracing classical repertoire while championing contemporary music by emerging composers.
Susanna holds a Master's Degree in Harp Performance from Stephen F. Austin State University and is principal harpist with the Round Rock Symphony Orchestra, Houston Civic Symphony and the Energy Corridor of Houston Orchestra. In addition to performing, she maintains a private harp and piano studio and takes great delight in training and mentoring young musicians. Susanna also teaches music classes at Lone Star College and is on faculty at the Houston Summer Harp Festival.
Kimberly DeRosa
Harp
​
Kimberly Snaufer DeRosa performs as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral performer. She has performed occasional concerts with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, TUTS, Fort Worth Symphony and Dallas Wind Symphony. Celebrity concerts include Frank Sinatra, Jr., Bernadette Peters and The Moody Blues. Ms. DeRosa is founding director of Houston Summer Harp Festival, adjunct instructor of harp at Howard Payne University and Harp Instructor at McKamy MS in Lewisville, TX. Her private teaching studio is located near Lake Dallas. Her students have won competitions and acceptances into prestigious universities and conservatories. She earned her BM at Southern Methodist University and completed her graduate studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada. Please visit her website for more information.
Robert Gruca
Guitar
​
Robert Gruca is an exciting guitarist who performs a wide range of solo, chamber, and concerto repertoire. In recent seasons, he has played solo concerts in Ohio, Michigan, New York, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and Canada.
Other accomplishments include touring the eastern United States and Europe with the Cleveland Orchestra, performing Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 under the direction of Franz Welser–Most. Robert Gruca made his concerto debut performing Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with the Marquette Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Nuvi Mehta.
Robert teaches at The Cleveland Music School Settlement and is proud to have started the first Suzuki guitar program there in the fall of 2013.
Danielle Harmon
Harp
​
Danielle Harmon holds a Bachelors and Masters in Music, both from the University of North Texas, majoring in performance on the harp. During her Masters degree, Danielle was one of the winners in the 2009-2010 Concerto Competition at the University of North Texas. Since graduation, Danielle has performed in regional ensembles with increasing frequency. She held the principal harp position with the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra for the 2011-2012 Season, and has played with the Monroe Symphony Orchestra in Louisiana, Richardson Symphony Orchestra, San Angelo Symphony, Pine Bluff Symphony in Arkansas, and Brazosport Symphony in Lake Jackson, Texas. In 2012, Danielle has performed flute and harp chamber music concerts throughout the state of Texas. She is the harpist for the Lone Star Wind Orchestra since their Inaugural Season in 2006.
Daniel Kelly
Trumpet
​
Daniel Kelly, a native of Charleston, SC, joined Texas A&M University-Commerce in the fall of 2010 after serving on the faculty of Indiana State University and the University of Southern Mississippi.
Dr. Kelly holds a BS in trumpet performance from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, and a MM and DMA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.His principal teachers include Michael Ewald, Ronnie Romm, Ray Sasaki, and Richard Steffen. He has been designated a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM) by the Music Teachers National Association and is a member of the Music Teachers National Association, the College Music Society, the International Trumpet Guild, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. Dr. Kelly is a Yamaha Performing Artist/Clinician.
Jonathan Kuhns
Horn
​
Currently, Jonathan Kuhns holds positions in the Eugene Symphony Orchestra, Portland Opera Orchestra, Eugene Concert Orchestra, Viridian Brass Quintet and The August Winds, of which is he a founding member. In demand as an orchestral musician, he has previously held principal positions with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra (Japan), and the Young Musicians’ Foundation Debut Orchestra, and has performed in a number of other orchestras, including the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale, and Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra. Jon has performed in a number of prestigious summer music festivals, including the Music Academy of the West, the National Orchestral Institute, and the Aspen Music Festival and School.
Jon is a graduate of the University of Southern California, earning a Master of Music in Horn Performance, and earned a Bachelor of Music in Horn Performance from Indiana University’s School of Music. His teachers have included Myron Bloom, Eli Epstein, Jennifer Montone, and James Thatcher.
Emily Mitchell
Harp
​
Emily Mitchell’s 30-year career includes solo recordings for RCA-BMG, U.S. tours for Columbia Artists, working in the television, motion picture and recording studios of NYC, EOS Orchestra principal harpist, and teaching at New York University and Purchase College. Mitchell presently teaches at Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State Universities in Texas. She has recently recorded four CDs of music by flutist/composer Gary Schocker: Garden in Harp, A Harp for Christmas, Vols 1& 2, and Changes. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music with Performer’s Certificate and an Associate of the Royal College of Music, Mitchell was awarded First Prize at the 7th Israel Harp Contest.
“A marvelous harpist” (The New York Times)
“Mitchell commands a vivid palette of colors and uses them with imagination” (The Washington Post) Please visit her website for more information.
Jeremy Reynolds
Clarinet
​
Dr. Jeremy W. Reynolds is on the faculty of the University of Denver Lamont School of Music. He previously served as the Principal Clarinetist of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, and has performed throughout the world in a variety of musical settings. Jeremy is a graduate of Ithaca College, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music where he was named Doctoral Student of the Year and was inducted into the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society. His principal teachers include Yehuda Gilad, Monica Kaenzig, Michelle Zukovsky, David Howard, Richard Hawley, Bil Jackson, Ted Oien, Michael Galvan and David Minelli. Jeremy is a Buffet Group USA Performing Artist and Clinician and Lomax Classic Mouthpiece Artist.
Marianne Shifrin
Clarinet
​
Marianne Shifrin is active as an orchestral and chamber musician around the country. She currently serves as Acting Principal of the Arizona Opera Orchestra. Previously, Marianne was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra in Colorado, and the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic. She is a frequent extra/substitute musician with many orchestras, and has played with the Colorado, Phoenix, Tucson, Ft. Collins, and Cheyenne Symphonies, and the Naples, Colorado Springs, and Boulder Philharmonic Orchestras, among others. She has performed at the Music Academy of the West, and the Aspen, Sarasota, Chautauqua, and Bowdoin music festivals. During the summer, Marianne performs with the Missouri Symphony, and the Artosphere Festival Orchestra in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Marianne received her Bachelor of Music Degree and a Performer Diploma from Indiana University and her Master of Music degree from Yale University. Her principal teachers include Eli Eban, David Shifrin, and Bil Jackson.
Linda White
Flute
​
Linda White leads an active musical life as both a performer and a teacher. She is a founding member of the BlueWater Chamber Orchestra, and has also performed with The Cleveland Pops, The Cleveland Opera Orchestra, The Akron Symphony, The Canton Symphony, Erie Philharmonic, and The New World Symphony.
An avid chamber musician and champion of contemporary music, she regularly works with the composers of The Cleveland Composers Guild and performs their pieces at venues throughout the Great Lakes region. Though classically trained, Linda enjoys improvising and nurtures her love of jazz through collaboration with pianist-composer Marshall Griffith.
An engaging teacher, Linda teaches at The Music Settlement, where she has students of all ages and abilities. At The Music Settlement, in addition to her teaching and work with The Gruca White Ensemble, Linda leads the Flautrageous Flute Choir and coordinates a program for adult amateur musicians to gather and play chamber music.
Linda received a Master of Music degree from The Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of Jeffrey Khaner and a Bachelor of the Arts from the University of Wyoming, where she studied with Dr. Katherine Kemler.
Brian Zator
Percussion
​
Dr. Brian Zator is the Director of Percussion at Texas A&M University-Commerce and holds degrees from Baylor University, the University of Michigan and the University of North Texas. He is also a student of world-renowned marimba artist, Keiko Abe, having performed and studied with her in Japan. Dr. Zator has performed at seven Percussive Arts Society International Conventions (PASIC), conventions and festivals across the United States, at Carnegie Hall, and abroad in Brazil, Japan, Australia, Switzerland, and Luxembourg.
Dr. Zator and the A&M-Commerce percussion ensemble were one of the three winners of the prestigious 2010 PAS International Percussion Ensemble Competition and performed a showcase concert at PASIC 2010. The ensemble presented a concert at PASIC 2006, featuring works of Minoru Miki, and released two CD’s since 2007.
Providing instructional videos for marimba, he is the primary keyboard artist for the Smartphone app and iBook publications, Pocket Percussion Teacher. Active within the Percussive Arts Society, he is Secretary for the Executive Committee. Dr. Zator is a performing artist and clinician for Dynasty/Bergerault, Innovative Percussion, Sabian, and Evans.
