CHASING DREAMS for LATER LIGHT
Chamber music by Artistic Director Oliver Caplan
NOVEMBER 15 | 8 PM
MULTICULTURAL ARTS CENTER
CAMBRIDGE, MA + LIVE ON YOUTUBE
NOVEMBER 16 | 4 PM FIRST PARISH SUDBURY SUDBURY, MA
BLOOM, BLAZE, FALL, FROST
SEP 27 & 28
CHASING DREAMS FOR LATER LIGHT NOV 15 & 16
JUVENTAS X NAVONA RECORDS MAY 2
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 MINUTES MAY 16 & 17
MUSIC IN BLOOM JUNE 14 & 21 UP NEXT
FAMILY PHOTOS JAN 17 JAN 30–FEB 1 LU YU: CENTER STAGE MARCH 14 & 15
CHASING DREAMS for LATER LIGHT
Chamber music by Artistic Director Oliver Caplan
NOVEMBER 15 | 8 PM | MULTICULTURAL ARTS CENTER + LIVE ON YOUTUBE
NOVEMBER 16 | 4 PM | FIRST PARISH SUDBURY
Lunastella Fuga (2012)
Ryan Shannon, violin; Justin Ouellet, violin; Lu Yu, viola; Nicholas Johnson, cello; Nathan Varga, double bass
To the Sea (2013)
Ryan Shannon, violin; Justin Ouellet, violin; Lu Yu, viola; Nicholas Johnson, cello
Green
Mountain Fugue (2025)
Kristo Kondakçi, conductor; Nicholas Southwick, flute; Catherine Weinfield-Zell, oboe; Ryan Shannon, violin; Justin Ouellet, violin; Lu Yu, viola; Nicholas Johnson, cello
All the Wings You Gave Us (2018)
Nicholas Southwick, flute; Celine Ferro, clarinet/bass clarinet; Sam Childers, bassoon; Catherine Weinfield-Zell, oboe/English horn; Anne Howarth, horn
Chasing Dreams for Later Light (2014)
I. Allegro
II. Romanza
III. Finale
Kristo Kondakçi, conductor; Nicholas Southwick, flute/piccolo; Catherine Weinfield-Zell, oboe/English horn; Celine Ferro, clarinet; Anne Howarth, horn; Sam Childers, bassoon; Ryan Shannon, violin; Lu Yu, viola; Nicholas Johnson, cello; Nathan Varga, double bass
Alex Ripley and Ted Steinemann have generously sponsored our November 15 Livestream. Jane Parkin Kullmann has generously sponsored our November 15 “Meet the Artists” Reception.
This program is supported by an Operating Support Grant from the Mass Cultural Council’s Portfolio Program; and by grants from the Cambridge Arts Council and the Sudbury Cultural Council, local agencies that are supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
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JUVENTAS NEW MUSIC ENSEMBLE
Juventas New Music Ensemble is a dynamic contemporary chamber group with a special focus on emerging voices.
We reimagine classical music as a vibrant living art form, uplifting rising voices and bringing audiences music from a diverse array of composers that live in today’s world and respond to our time.
Juventas has earned a reputation as a curator, with a keen eye for new talent. Since our founding in 2005, we have performed the music of over 300 living composers. Our musicians champion these artists with exceptional professional performances that open doors.
From climate change to mental health, our programs speak to the most critical topics of the 21st century. Our concerts center on the human experience, featuring deeply personal music that fosters conversation and reflection.
Our work has been recognized with multiple American Prize wins and support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Massachusetts Cultural Council, New Music USA and Boston Foundation. Juventas has been featured on over a dozen recording projects, including albums from Albany Records, Navona, New Dynamic and RMN Classical.
John A. Carey has generously sponsored Juventas New Music Ensemble’s 2025-26 Mainstage Season.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
John Carey
President
Andrew Wilkins
Treasurer
Meghan Guidry
Clerk
Minjin Chung
Lynn Eustis
Meg Fuchs
Carson Cooman
Leslie Jacobson Kaye
Karen Ruymann
Oliver Caplan
ex officio
STAFF
Oliver Caplan
Artistic Director
Kyla Blocker
General Manager
Saskia den Boon
Grants Coordinator
Graphic Designer
Molly Breen-Aronson
Development Coordinator
Aimee Lents
Arts Administration Intern
Mark Vranos
Arts Administration Intern
A COMPOSER’S JOURNEY
The works on this program weave through my journey as a composer over the past 13 years. The story begins with my 2012 work Lunastella Fuga (the first work in today’s concert). When the Riverdale Sinfonietta in New York City commissioned the piece, Artistic Director Mark Mandarano said something to the effect of “Wouldn’t it be delightful if you wrote a fugue?” Naively, I exclaimed: “I’d love to!”
The thing is, the fugue is a rather tricky musical form. There are entire treatises on the matter! Yes, Bach wrote over a hundred of them, but there’s a reason he is on a pedestal. The heart of a fugue is a strong melody, with a catchy element that will alert the listener each time it is re-introduced. But the melody must be just so. As the piece unfolds, it will be layered with an “answer” melody, a “counter subject,” and more. And it must follow a set of rules, devised in the 17th and 18th centuries; or at the very least, defy them with intention.
After a morning of “getting in the mood,” a playful little ditty came to me fairly quickly. Feeling proud of myself, I called it a day. The next morning, I returned to my melody, ready to spin it into a proper fugue. However, it became immediately apparent that this tune, however charming I might have thought it was, would not be suitable for a fugue. No worries! I set it aside and began again. This time, something in a different direction—stately, yet somber. Feeling good, I called it a day once more. And yet, tomorrow, I faced the same challenge. My new melody might make a strong centerpiece for a new work. But try as I might, I couldn’t seem to make a fugue out of it. Was I a little frustrated? Sure. But this was only day three or four, and these things happen. My third effort had qualities of fanfare, with wide ascending intervals. Nope! What if I inverted it, with deep, descending gestures? You can guess where this is going. A few weeks passed, and with six themes tossed out, I was beginning to get concerned. Okay, I was in a full-on panic!
Not the best way to head into a cabin trip in New Hampshire, an annual tradition with my best friends. It was an extravagance I no longer had time for. Of course, that is when we all need a break the most. Camaraderie, laughter and the awe-inspiring beauty of nature all worked their magic. The s’mores didn’t hurt either. I returned from the woods, penned the melody that would become Lunastella Fuga, and the piece flowed quickly from there. As they say, seventh time’s a charm!
A year later, in 2013, the Firebrand Concert Series commissioned a string quartet, as part of my year-long appointment as their Composer-in-Residence. The work would be inspired by Bike to the Sea, a community group that converted an old rail line into a corridor of green space. Searching for just the right melody, I flipped through my sketchbook for ideas. And there it was: rejected fugue theme #5! Ten seconds of music on the cutting room floor became a twenty minute string quartet, To the Sea (the second work in today’s concert).
In 2014, my mentor Bill Scribner, commissioned a three-movement nonet for the Bronx Arts Ensemble. This time it was rejected fugue theme #6, which became source material for Chasing Dreams for Later Light (the fifth and final work in today’s concert). Now leaving my rejected fugue melodies behind…
Bill passed away in 2016, a heart-wrenching blow to the New York music community. Bill was the founder of the Bronx Arts Ensemble. He led the organization for 44 years, while also performing bassoon on its stage. Lifting young artists, like me, was Bill’s guiding light. He offered us countless opportunities to grow on a professional stage, indulgences that might be unthinkable with other organizations. I’ll never forget the time Bill lifted a Steinway concert grand to the lawn of Van Cortlandt Park so a talented high school pianist could perform with the Bronx Arts Ensemble in their annual Memorial Day concert. It was the only piece in the entire concert that made use of this piano. That was Bill. The Bronx Arts Ensemble commissioned All the Wings You Gave Us (the fourth work in today’s concert) in Bill’s memory, premiering it in 2018 with a quintet of his dear colleagues. The piece opens with a bassoon solo, and I always imagine him playing it.
To reach the last work in this program’s constellation, we must fast forward to 2025. In all this time, I had not dared to even consider writing another fugue. Wasn’t one enough?! Then the Copeland family commissioned me to write a sextet, in honor of their beloved matriarch Lynda, a pillar of the music community in Southern Vermont. I could have taken any number of approaches to this piece, and the Copelands afforded me wide artistic latitude. But try as I might to avoid it, there was one inescapable fact: Lynda’s license plates. One read “JS BACH” and the other “FUGA.” Green Mountain Fugue (the third work in today’s concert) was born.
Thank you for joining us in the concert hall today, and I hope you enjoy this journey through my music.
Sincerely,
Oliver Caplan Composer, Artistic and Executive Director
PROGRAM NOTES
Lunastella Fuga (2012)
Lunastella Fuga was composed following that summer cabin trip in New Hampshire, with best friends Meg, Jason and Marie; and future-husband Chris. We took a row boat out at midnight, under the otherworldly light of a blue moon and gaped at the stars. Large constellations catch the eye first—Orion, Ursa Major, Aquarius—but their constituent triangles and squares are echoed infinitely, a giant fractal, incessantly permeating the firmament. Fugue is a compositional technique built on a melodic theme, first introduced in a single voice (in this piece, the cellos) and then spiraled throughout the other voices of the ensemble. The theme thrusts forward, transforming as it weaves amidst the voices— augmented, diminished, transposed to other pitches, and so on. The fugue theme seems to be heard everywhere, an astral echo of music in the air.
To the Sea (2013)
Like tributaries that converge to form rivers that flow into the sea, communities are built by individuals who collaborate to achieve something greater than the sum of their parts. To the Sea draws on this idea, with individual musicians of the string quartet contributing musical fragments that weave together to form a larger melody. The title of the piece draws upon “Bike to the Sea,” a rails-to-trails project in Massachusetts designed to reclaim connections with the natural environment and link the communities of Malden, Everett, Revere and Saugus with the Lynn waterfront. For the past twenty years, “Bike to the Sea” has been a catalyst for community collaboration.
This piece has an additional resonance in my heart, for it was performed at my wedding, led by former Juventas Artistic Director Lidiya Yankovskaya.
Green Mountain Fugue (2025)
Green Mountain Fugue was commissioned by Julia, Heidi and Laurel Copeland in loving memory of their mother, Lynda Copeland.
I met the Copelands in 2022, when Chris and I purchased a house in the town of Halifax, Vermont, population 759. I reached out to Laurel to join the Halifax Newsletter email list, and within two weeks, she and her husband John were having us over for dinner and introducing us to a spirited band of neighbors. This is, in some respects, the nature of small-town life, but it also deeply reflects the warm ethos of the Copelands. They say the apple does not fall far from the tree, and I have learned through countless stories that Lynda, who was 96 when I first walked into Halifax, was very much the same, bringing people together, building community, and touching the hearts of everyone she met. She was a civil rights activist, regular contributor to the Brattleboro Reformer, and passionate supporter of the local music scene. If you haven’t been to Southern Vermont,
“local music scene” might not conjure quite the right impression. I once spotted a signed photo of Isaac Stern in Lynda’s farmhouse, personally dedicated to her.
Lynda navigated the winding dirt roads of the green mountains in cars that sported what, to this music nerd, have to be two of the most badass license plates of all time. One read “JS BACH” and the other “FUGA.” With that in mind, I could think of no more fitting musical tribute for Lynda than a fugue. A fugue is a musical form that begins with the first “voice” (represented by one or more instruments) introducing a melody, known as the “subject.” A second voice enters and picks up the subject, while the first proceeds to a musical “answer.” A third voice then enters and we’re off! I crafted this four-voice fugue to represent Lynda and her three daughters. Lynda lives on through these three incredible women, community pillars and music lovers in their own right.
Above all, Green Mountain Fugue is a piece about family, love, and a tight-knit community in the rolling mountains of Southern Vermont.
All the Wings You Gave Us (2018)
All the Wings You Gave Us was written in tribute to Bill Scribner, a kind man, gifted musician and generous soul. Bill founded the Bronx Arts Ensemble in 1972 and led the organization for over 40 years. He understood the uplifting power of music and worked tirelessly to bring top-notch professional performances to the people of the Bronx.
Bill was passionately devoted to investing in the next generation of artists and creating opportunities for young musicians. I am forever grateful to have been one of these musicians. As a young composer, Bill mentored me and fostered some of my first professional engagements. When someone believes in you, they brighten your life for good. Experiences working with Bill and the Bronx Arts Ensemble helped nurture my growth as I honed my voice as an artist. I am just one of many. Bill touched the lives and hearts of countless community members, and his work lives on in the music we continue to make.
Chasing Dreams for Later Light (2014)
During my slumbers, I’ve composed fantastical works, often for symphonies and choruses of an unimaginable scale. Only once was I truly able to remember a melody from sleep, just long enough to grab a sheet of paper. It was a single line for solo cello.
This piece is an ode to dreams, those dark blossoms that unfurl themselves in an intoxicating fantasy of sleep. Dreams harbor new realms of adventure and possibility and illuminate lurking shadows of our darkest fears. Yet just when they seem at their apex of clarity, dreams vanish into thin air, like fog in the floodlights of morning sunshine. We are left only with fleeting wisps of a world that might have been, a parallel reality deep inside our souls.
A composer’s charge is to forever chase those threads. For through music, we can—once in a blue moon—retrieve that which is softly unsaid.
Raspberry Man (2011)
Sculpting the Air (2011)
Spectres (2016) You Are Not Alone (2017)
Figments Vol. 3 (2022)
Brass Tacks 2 (2023)
To What Listens (2022)
Hackpolitik (2014)
Watershed (2021)
Voices of the Land (2023)
Sauntering Songs (2023)
Scan for More!
JUVENTAS IN THE STUDIO
OUR RECORDING LEGACY
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
OLIVER CAPLAN | b. 1982
Andrew Wilkins has generously sponsored Oliver Caplan’s position as Artistic Director for the 2025-26 Season.
Award-winning American composer Oliver Caplan offers a voice of hope in an uncertain world. Inspired by the resiliency of the human spirit and beauty of the natural world, his music celebrates stories of social justice, conservation and community.
From Carnegie Hall to Kearney, Nebraska, Oliver’s music has been performed by over 75 ensembles in the United States and around the globe. He has been commissioned by the American Wild Ensemble, Atlanta Chamber Players, Bella Piano Trio, Bronx Arts Ensemble, Brookline Symphony Orchestra, Columbia University Wind Ensemble and New Hampshire Master Chorale, among others. Winner of a Special Citation for the American Prize in Orchestral Composition and the Oratorio Society of New York’s 150th Anniversary Competition, additional recognitions include two Veridian Symphony Competition Wins, the Fifth House Ensemble Competition Grand Prize and fellowships at Ragdale, Millay Arts and VCCA. His vocal works include settings of poetry by Maya Angelou, Richard Blanco, Hannah Fries and Meghan Guidry. Oliver’s music is featured on seven albums and has been streamed over a half million times.
A leader in the field of contemporary classical music, Oliver is the Artistic Director of the American Prize-winning Juventas New Music Ensemble, the only professional ensemble of its kind devoted specifically to the music of emerging composers. He also serves on the Ragdale Foundation’s Curatorial Board and is a voting member of the Recording Academy.
Oliver holds degrees from Dartmouth College and the Boston Conservatory. He resides in Medford, Massachusetts with his husband Chris and corgi Simon. olivercaplan.com
ABOUT THE MUSICIANS
KRISTO KONDAKÇI | conductor, guest artist
Celebrated for his visionary leadership and innovative programming, Albanian-American conductor Kristo Kondakçi is redefining the role of the modern conductor as a driving force for artistic excellence and meaningful change in communities worldwide.
As the David and Janet McCue Music Director of the Kendall Square Orchestra (K²O)—a 94-member ensemble drawn from over 60 leading technology and life science organizations—Kondakçi champions initiatives that combine musical innovation with philanthropic action. At Boston’s historic Symphony Hall, K²O’s Symphony for Science series has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for healthcare causes through collaborations with figures such as Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart and Nobel Laureate Esther Duflo. In partnership with Pfizer and Next Step, Kondakçi also led the creation of Come and Walk a Mile, an anthem for rare disease awareness that has reached audiences worldwide.
Residing in Boston with his wife, Chloe, he continues to design bold new projects and broaden his community-centered efforts. His upcoming season features major orchestral debuts and groundbreaking partnerships that underscore his belief that music, at its core, can unite us, heal us, and drive meaningful change.
NICHOLAS SOUTHWICK | flute, piccolo
Emily Lyons and Ryan Snyder have generously sponsored Nicholas Southwick for the 2025-26 season.
Praised by the Royal Gazette for his “beautiful phrasing” and “bright and lively playing” and by the Boston Musical Intelligencer for his “admirable ensemble cohesion,” Nicholas Southwick enjoys a diverse musical career as a flutist, lecturer, and curator passionately committed to bringing over ten centuries of classical music to life in performance, writing, and spoken word.
Nicholas is a frequent guest artist of the Bay Chamber Concerts, where he recently performed J.S. Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 2 with Palaver Strings. He has also
performed Bach’s concerti with the Bermuda Chamber Orchestra and was a soloist for the Bach the European series at the Royal Academy of Music. As a recitalist, he has been invited to perform at Harvard University, King’s Chapel, Salem Classical, the University of Cambridge, and the Bloomsbury Festival, in London.
In addition to his role as core flutist of the Juventas New Music Ensemble, Nicholas performs with violist Long Okada in Duo Gwynne, holding a 2023-24 Artist Fellowship with Music for Food. He also founded the Acadie Duo with cellist Jaime Feldman, with whom he curates an annual chamber music series in rural Maine. Nicholas has a particular interest in interdisciplinary dialogues between music and spirituality, having served as Fellow in Liturgy and Music at Harvard University’s Episcopal Chaplaincy and regularly performing for Duke Initiatives in Theology and the Arts (DITA). As an orchestral player, Nicholas has made appearances with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, Emmanuel Music, New Hampshire Festival Orchestra, Boston Opera Collaborative, Harvard-Radcliffe and Manchester Choral Societies, and Trentino Music Festival Orchestra (Italy).
A devoted and passionate instructor, Nicholas is committed to empowering creativity in the classroom and encouraging robust interdisciplinary dialogues as a vehicle for encountering music within its social, cultural, and historical contexts. He is currently Assistant Professor at the Berklee College of Music and serves as Affiliated Faculty at Emerson College.
Nicholas completed his postgraduate training at the Royal Academy of Music, London under the tutelage of Karen Jones, Laura Jellicoe, and Katherine Baker. He previously studied at the Longy School of Music of Bard College and Gordon College. His past teachers include Marco Granados, Robert Willoughby, and Susan Heath.
Described as an “arresting” (Boston Globe) and “strikingly beautiful” (Miami Herald) musician, Catherine Weinfield-Zell is a busy performer and teacher in the New England area and beyond. Having held positions with the both the Hawaii Symphony and the Florida Grand Opera, she has also performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera, the San Diego and Charleston Symphonies, the Portland Symphony, the Naples Philharmonic, the new-music ensembles Alarm Will Sound and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Boston Philharmonic, the Boston Lyric and Odyssey Opera Companies, the Boston Festival Orchestra, and Emmanuel Music.
Additionally, she has also performed at the Strings, Opera North, Lake George, Opera in the Ozarks, Breckenridge, Spoleto FestivalUSA, Aspen, Sitka, Alaska, Kent/Blossom,
CATHERINE WEINFIELD-ZELL | oboe, English horn, guest artist
and Britten-Pears Aldeburgh World Orchestra summer music festivals. As a dedicated teacher, Ms. Weinfield-Zell is currently on faculty at Longy Conservatory, Northeastern University, Phillips Exeter Academy, and Bridgewater State University, and formerly held positions at the University of New Hampshire, Williams College and Brookline Music School. She is also the co-founder with her husband, percussionist Michael Weinfield-Zell, of Music at the Substation, a chamber music series that performed regularly at the Turtle Swamp Brewery in Boston during the 2018-2020 seasons, as well as presented a full season of virtual concerts during the Covid-19 pandemic. Ms. Weinfield-Zell’s principal teachers include Elaine Douvas at Mannes College of Music in New York City, John Mack and Frank Rosenwein at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Ray Still at Northwestern University.
CELINE FERRO | clarinet, bass clarinet
Meghan Guidry has generously sponsored Celine Ferro for the 2025-26 concert season.
Celine Ferro is a core member of the Juventas New Music Ensemble, the clarinetist of the Kalliope Reed Quintet, and a force in the all-bass clarinet ensemble Improbable Beasts. Seeking diverse collaborations that take her work beyond the typical concert hall, Ferro is also the clarinetist and bass clarinetist of the groove ensemble Shibui, where she can be heard on their latest album, Quint, released by Ronin Rhythm Records.
Alongside these projects and ensembles, Ferro has recently performed chamber music with Castle of Our Skins, contributed to a variety of orchestral workshops and concerts throughout New England, and even curated a unique collaboration between the Improbable Beasts and Shibui, blending together heavy metal elements, medieval influences, contemporary classical music, and ritualistic groove music.
Beyond these engagements, Ferro serves on the faculty of Powers Music School and the Winchester Community Music School. When she is not teaching, performing, or practicing for all of the above, Celine is an avid hiker, reader, and coffee drinker.
Credit:
James Jones Photography
ANNE HOWARTH | horn
Alex Ripley and Ted Steinemann have generously sponsored Anne Howarth for the 2025-26 season.
Horn player Anne Howarth has a passion for small group collaborations and the opportunities they offer performers and audience members alike to forge personal connections with the music and with each other. She is deeply curious about the ways in which shared musical experiences can invite deeper dialogue and contemplation.
Anne is a founding member of the mixed-instrumentation chamber group Radius Ensemble and is a senior member of the wind quintet Vento Chiaro. A strong proponent of new music, Anne has commissioned works for chamber ensemble as an individual and with colleagues. As a freelance orchestral player in demand in the greater Boston area, Anne holds Principal Horn chairs with the Lexington Symphony and Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra and occasionally performs with the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, among others. Curious about the intersection between live music and movement, Anne has collaborated with Monkeyhouse and dancer/choreographer Karen Krolak at First Night Boston, the Oberon, and Tufts University.
Anne is a native of the Detroit area, holds undergraduate degrees in both Horn Performance and Environmental Studies from Oberlin Conservatory and Oberlin College respectively, and earned her Master of Music in Performance at New England Conservatory.
Anne teaches horn and coaches chamber music at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Tufts University and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI), maintains a private studio, and is on the faculties of the New England Conservatory Preparatory School, and the Milton Afterschool Lesson Program.
SAM CHILDERS | bassoon, guest artist
Sam is an accomplished bassoonist and educator with a diverse background in performance and teaching. His educational journey began in his hometown of Missoula, MT, where he started teaching private students during college. He has since expanded his teaching portfolio to include coaching talented young bassoonists and chamber music at the prestigious Boston University Tanglewood Institute.
As an educator, Sam’s expertise extends beyond
9/20/25 | 9/21/25
Premiere: Then Is Now
10/25/25 | 10/26/25
Coming to Boston: From Korea
11/22/25
Lineage
12/13/25 | 12/14/25
Schubert Octet
A FarCry
1/9/26 | 1/10/26
Yeemz × A Far Cry
1/31/26
Side by Side
2/14/26
Heart Strings: A Valentine from The Criers
3/14/26 | 3/18/26
Appalachian Spring A Far Cry on Tour!
4/25/26
In the Making: Land of the Northern Frog
5/9/26
Season Finale: The Strangers’ Case
performance techniques to include specialized skills such as reed making, where he assists students of all levels, including professionals. His teaching approach has been shaped by mentors like Roger McDonald and Richard Beene, as well as through frequent attendance at masterclasses led by the Boston Symphony bassoon section at Tanglewood.
Sam’s performance career is equally impressive. As a member of the acclaimed wind quintet Vento Chiaro, he has performed recitals throughout New England. His orchestral experience includes engagements with notable ensembles such as the Toledo Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Boston Philharmonic, and Boston Pops. Sam has also contributed his talents to Odyssey Opera and participated in the Emmanuel Music Bach Cantata Series and Marsh Chapel Collegium.
Through his dual roles as performer and educator, Sam brings a wealth of practical experience and artistic insight to his teaching, helping to nurture the next generation of bassoonists while maintaining an active presence in the professional music scene.
RYAN SHANNON | violin
Oliver Caplan and Chris Beagan have generously sponsored Ryan Shannon for the 2025-26 season.
Ryan Shannon is a freelance violinist/violist based in Boston. He performs widely throughout the New England area, collaborating with ensembles of any size: from small quartets to 100-piece orchestras. He has shared the stage with A Far Cry, Celtic Woman and Johnny Mathis, as well as such masters as Yo-Yo Ma and Andrea Bocelli.
Although he specializes in the newest music of the contemporary period, frequently performing such composers as Jessie Montgomery, Paul Wianko, and Anna Clyne, Ryan holds a deep fondness and love for the great masters, particularly Brahms, Haydn, and Beethoven. Ryan studied at the New England Conservatory under the tutelage of Lucy Chapman and Nicholas Kitchen. He is the Artistic Director of Heartspur Arts Festival in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as well as a core member of Juventas New Music Ensemble in Boston.
Ryan has over a decade of experience performing at weddings with the Fensgate Chamber Players under the direction of Brian Clague.
Credit: James Jones Photography
JUSTIN OUELLET | violin, guest artist
Justin Ouellet has performed internationally from California to France, collaborating with musicians from all different backgrounds. His training as a classical musician has awarded him opportunities to perform with members of prestigious groups around the world ranging from the Philadelphia Orchestra to Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.
As a natural improviser and performer, Justin has been blessed to share the stage with renowned musicians such as Andrea Boccelli, Jón Þór Jónsi, Kev Choice, and Nadja Salerno Sonnenberg. Justin has received recognition for his talents as an artist and educator, receiving the San Jose Jazz Live Aid Grant, Academy of Gospel of Music Educator of the Year and voted best Jazz Instrumentalist by San Francisco Classical Voice.
He can be heard on a multitude of recordings and has worked on a variety of production and engineering projects bringing him to renowned studios such as Skywalker Ranch, George Lucas’s estate, where many of the great movie soundtracks and Grammy winning albums have been recorded. He has produced three solo albums, one with his band d’PaJo, which pays homage to the great Stephanie Grappelli (the d’PaJo Sessions, 2021) as well as: The 25th Street Sessions (2019), & Justin Ouellet: The Covid Sessions, which was released this fall.
He and his wife split their time between California and Massachusetts.
LU YU | viola
Julia Scott Carey and Richard Mitrano have generously sponsored Lu Yu for the 2025-26 season.
Born in China, Lu Yu began her musical studies at the age of six on violin. She started to play viola as her principal instrument at age twelve at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou, China. Her studies then took her to the Royal Academy of Music in London with a full scholarship where she learned under the tutelage of Matthew Souter for the Bachelor of Music degree.
Ms. Yu then studied with Marcus Thompson at the New England Conservatory in Boston where she received her Master of Music degree. Among her numerous awards, she was granted “The Young Musician of 2008” in Hong Kong. Her performance career has led to being the founding violist of the Loki String Quartet which is in residence at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Ms. Yu is also principal violist of the Boston Civic Symphony, performs with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, was recently co-principal viola of the Missouri Symphony and frequently performs with many of the ensembles around the Boston area.
NICHOLAS JOHNSON | cello, guest artist
Cellist Nicholas Johnson (they/he) strives to create meaningful art at local levels through collaborations which cross genres. As a recipient of the 2023 St. Botolph Club Foundation’s Emerging Artist Award, they commissioned and recorded a new suite of music inspired by the cosmos by Mason Bynes and Jingmian Gong, building upon Toru Takemitsu’s Orion for cello and piano (to be released Summer 2024). They perform and record with Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Odyssey Opera, and in the 2022-2023 season returned to their native state of Florida as guest principal of the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra.
In recent seasons Nicholas has performed with Boston Public Quartet, Semiosis Quartet, Winsor Music, and Juventas New Music. With these ensembles and the contemporary sinfonietta Sound Icon, he regularly works with young composers at Berklee College of Music, RWU, and MIT to workshop and record their new music. Nick has soloed alongside Space Coast Symphony Orchestra, members of the Silk Road Ensemble, and Boston Conservatory Wind Ensemble performing Chen Yi’s Suite for Cello and Chamber Winds.
NATHAN VARGA | double bass, guest artist
Nathan Varga maintains a vibrant career as a double bassist in the Boston area. His experience ranges from orchestral and chamber music to period performance, opera, and theater. He holds degrees from Boston University and Baldwin Wallace College.
Desiring to engage a diverse audience, he also enjoys playing original music and arranging covers with friends. Other interests include cycling, woodworking, synthesis and electronic music, and bicycle and auto-mechanics.
Credit: James Jones Photography
Saul Oct 3 + 5
Beethoven Symphony No. 7
Beethoven
Oct 24 + 25
Symphony No. 7
Oct 24 + 25
Handel’s Messiah
Nov 28 + 29 + 30
Handel’s Messiah
Nov 28 + 29 + 30
Baroque Christmas Dec 18 + 21
Mozart + Haydn
Jan 9 + 11
Mozart + Haydn
Bach + Telemann May 15 + 16
Voices Carry May 29 + 31
Jan 9 + 11
Handel’s Water Music
Apr 10 + 12
Apr 10 + 12
Handel’s Water Music
Apr 10 + 12
Voices Carry May 29 + 31
617.262.1815
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•Credit Card: www.juventasmusic.org/donate-now
•Check: Juventas New Music Ensemble, P.O. Box 230015, Boston, MA 02123.
Juventas New Music Ensemble is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Your fully tax-deductible contributions are essential for us to present new music.
Advertise with Juventas
Advertise in Juventas’s 2025-26 concert season! Attract patrons from New England and beyond, while supporting arts in your community. Advertising supports the work of Juventas and creates good will by identifying your business as a patron of the arts! For more information, please contact General Manager Kyla Blocker, kyla.blocker@juventasmusic.org.
Make a Planned Gift
Bequests and planned gifts are simple, mutually beneficial ways for you to support Juventas New Music Ensemble beyond your lifetime. You can create your own legacy and keep supporting emerging composers for years to come by leaving a bequest in your will, life insurance policy, retirement plan, or other assets in your estate plan to Juventas New Music Ensemble, while at the same time reaping tax benefits for yourself and your descendents. If you would like more information about making a bequest to Juventas New Music Ensemble or if you’ve already included us in your estate plans, please contact our Artistic Director Oliver Caplan at olivercaplan@juventasmusic.org. Juventas New Music Ensemble is a nonprofit corporation, organized and existing under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, with a principal business address of:
Juventas New Music Ensemble P.O. Box 230015 Boston, MA 02123
Our tax identification number is 26-2583870.
SUPPORTERS
Juventas New Music Ensemble is deeply grateful to the incredibly generous community that supports our artistic programs. Juventas received the following individual gifts from October 1, 2024 through October 31, 2025. Please visit www.juventasmusic.org/donate-now to learn about making a tax-deductible gift.
$5,000 and Above
Anonymous
Oliver Caplan and Chris Beagan
John A. Carey
Massachusetts Cultural Council
Karen & Fred Ruymann
Andrew Wilkins
$2,000-$4,999
Anonymous
Cambridge Arts Council
Colleen Cavanaugh
Medford Arts Council
The Ripley-Steinemann Family Fund
Bonnie Hirsch
Louise Scribner
PARMA Recordings
$1,000–$1,999
Brookline Commission for the Arts
Paula Luria and William Caplan
Julia Scott Carey and Richard Mitrano
Carson Cooman
Futura Productions
Good Treble Fund
Meghan Guidry
Leslie Jacobson Kaye and Richard Kaye
Emily Lyons and Ryan Snyder
Paul Monsky & Beverly Woodward
Wegmans Medford
$500–$999
Boylston Cultural Council
Brian Cron
April Durant
Christie Lee Gibson & Michael Emanuel
Jacob Hilley
Hank & Patricia Kucheman
Stella Lee
Gregory Royer
Steven Sérpa
Sudbury Cultural Council
$250–$499
Alexandra Bowers and James Liu
Theo and Steve.Colburn
Sarah Cummer
Joanne Dreher
Yukiko Egozy
John Emler
Lynn Eustis
Andy Foery
Moriah Freeman
Meg Fuchs
Lorna Gibson
Myra and Roy Gordon
Beth D Jacob
William Krein
Ian Lai
Joshua Levit
Nagesh Mahanthappa & Valentine Talland
Reeva Meyer
Bob Page and Dean Vassil
Jane Parkin Kullmann
Andrew and Laura Waldorf Reiss
Carol Richart
Lori K. Sanders & Jennifer A.
Lewis
Isadel & EB Saunter
Lucy & Len Schmolka
Ben Sweetser
$100–$249
Anonymous
Edward J Amabile and Mary M Amabile
Charlie & Lea Anderson
Robert Beagan
Emily & Stuart Blitz
Anne Bilder & Johan den Boon
Lee Binnig
Carol Bloom
Evelyn Bonander
Joannie Botkol
Mary Frances Breen
Camille Breen
Chris and Margie Brown
Gail Bucher
Judith Mitrano
David Chia
Larry Cohen and Susan Worst
Deanne Coolidge
Laurel Copeland & John Zeber
Eric & Margaret Darling
Sue Dickinson
Tracy Donsky
Diane Droste
Maggie Edinger
Ann Ferentz
In memory of Jean and Ken Royer
David E. Fuchs
John Garton
Patricia and Dr. Robert Gordon
John H. Graves
Louise & Michael Grossman
Heidi Hellring
Patricia Henry
David and Mary Howarth
Alyson Hudson
Catharine Hyson
Elizabeth Igleheart
Howard Jacobson
Ona Jonaityte
Mari and Denys Kotskyy
Kenneth Krause and Maura McEnaney
Theodore Lanman
Kimberly and Chris Lehner
Ludmilla Leibman
Harold Lichtin
Beth Manca
Robert Markelewicz MD
May Marquebreuck
Honor McClellan
Ralph and Sylvia Memolo
Christine Mortensen
Susan Navarre and Tim Olevsky
Angela Ng
Joe Sodroski & Alice Noble
Ayumi Okada
Katie Parodi
Mary Pederson and Claye Metelmann
Velura Perry
Maureen Peters
Webster Pilcher and Sheryl Koenigsberg
Brian Pingree and Alexis Dearborn
Mark and Jody Raider
Ian Reiss
Kathryn Ritcheske
Andrew Royer
Nate Ruegger
Mallory A Ruymann
Colin Ryan
Ellen Sarkisian
Jon Saxton and Barbara Fox
Andrew and Margot Schmolka
In memory of Howard Schranz
Sidney Slobotkin
Kevin & Carol Smith
Anders Soderquist
Ann B. Teixeira
Douglas Urban
Charlene and Stephen Valk
Dino J. Martins
Elaine Walsh
Theodor Weinberg & Eric Hyett
Vicki and Andy Wittenstein
$50–$99
Anonymous
Victoria Aparece
Young Yun Baek
Laura Basford
John Beagan & Sarah Peck
Kenneth Bigley
Mary Bragg
Mary Breen
Caitlin Breen
Thomas Breen
Margaret Cain
Michele Caniato
Susan Carlson
Minjin Chung
Cathy Chung
Rachel Ciprotti
Johan den Boon
Susan Dolan
Allison Donelan
Barry Duncan
Mary Eddy
David L. Eddy
Andrew Elliott and John Varone
Ellen Feingold
David Feltner and Robert Edward Smith
Celine Ferro
William Finkelstein
David and Ellen Fries
Milan Galland
Stacy Garrop
Frank Genco
James Gleason
Mara Goldberg
Hans Heilman
Maureen Hollis
Judith Insell
Tim Jarrett
Leonard and Terry Kahn
Jim Kane and Sharon Williams
Bill and Carolyn Kane
Sho Kato
Susan Kendall
Matthew Kusulas & Jack Tamburri
Amy Lee
Steve Lewis
Nancy Lipsitt and Len Newman
George Lockhart
Downing Luvisi Family
Kevin Mathieu
Carol McCarthy and Chris Stribakos
Mona McKindley
The Hollis-Goodwin Families
Jennifer Moore
Jason Pavel and Marie Walcott
Chris Porter
Janet Rothrock
Jonathan Royer
Christina Rusnak
Dewey Sasser
Tom Schmidt
Charles Shadle
Gordon and Shannon Shannon
Jonathan Simon, DC
Arlene Stevens
Meg Stone
Sharon Daniels Sullivan
Pinaud Publication
Barbara Turen
John Varone
Karen Walwyn
Lauri Wasson
Graheme Williams
Lynn Chang and Lisa Wong
Elton Wong
Sandy & Craig Blocker
Michael Zammito
Marc Zegans
Up to $49
Anonymous (4)
Andrew Adams
James Aronson
Steven Averett
Weronika Balewski
Skylar Lapin
J. L. Bell
Lauren Bernofsky
Lauren Bilello
Johanna Biviano
Kelsey Blocker
Kyla Blocker
Betsy Bobo
Ed Bouchard
Molly Breen-Aronson
Eliza Brown
Monica Bruno
Erin Burke
Jennifer W Chan
Jenith Charpintier
Grace Chua
Jeanhee Chung
Linda Ciesielski
Andrea Clearfield
Charles Coe
Chris Combest
Joey Marie Coughlin
Cheryl L Crider
BethAyn Curtis
James Curtis
Deepa Datta
Patrick Dawson
Jade Deatherage
Michael Delman
Saskia den Boon
Karin Denison
Bryce and Kathryn Denney
Ashley Dennis
Emily Eddy
Eric Eisenberg
Carl Ellenberger
John Eustis
Carole Eustis
Beth Eustis
Noam Faingold
Evan Fein
Anthony Ferello
Miriam Fogel
Anna Fogel
Frederick Frank
Tobin Gedstad
Michael Gilbertson
Charlie Griffin
Andrew Haber
Hillary Hadley
Carrie Hammond
Amanda Harberg
Julia Harrod
Kiyoshi Hayashi
Robert Heaney
Cara Herbitter
Hannah Hickman
Anne Hoef
Susanna Hoglund
Kelley Hollis
Michaela Hollis
Grant Home
Stephanie Howard
Mary and David Howarth
Anne Howarth & Frederick Frank Jr.
Wolcott Humphrey
Michael Hustedde
Emanuella Janita
Kun Yong Jeoung
Jon Jones
James and Amy Jones
Daniel Jones
Jessica Kaplan
Jason Kaplan
Richard Kaye
Zachary Kaye
Louise Kelly
Bella Kelly
Noelle Kelly
Krista Killeen
Abby Krawson
Meg Krilov
Rainice Lai
Jessica Lamoureux
Kate Landishaw
Marc, Skylar, Laura Lapin
Kathleen Larson Day
Mina Lavcheva
Vi Le
Jacqueline Lestina
Rose Lewis
Rozime Lindsey
Olga Lisovska
Shayna Liu
Gale Livingston
Gami Maislin
on behalf of Molly Breen
Linda Markarian
Pamela Marshall
Seth Mascolo
Pranav Mashankar
Patrick Mcallister
Mac McBurney
Kathryn McKellar
Kim McNamara
Taylor McNulty
Sarah McSweeney
Erin Merceruio Nelson
Libby Meyer
Krystal Morin
Will Morningstar
Barbara Morrison
Mary Mulderig
Joseph Musser
Linda Ng
Kaitlin Nichols
Nick Norton
Jessica Oakhem
Luis Ochoa
Justin Ouellet
Andrew Pease
Patric Pepper & Mary Ann Larkin
Paula Petrella
Kathleen Quigley
Cassian Ramos
Daniel Ramos
Lianne Ratzersdorfer
Alexander and Sabrina Recendiz
Fern and Ginny Remedi-Brown
Remesch Family
Sarah Ries
Stephanie Riley
Bobbi Ritcheske
Gwyneth Rix
Nathan Roller
David Roth
John Ruymann
Erica Ryan
Elizabeth Ryan
Antonio Santos
Laura Schaefer
Joseph Sedarski
Katie Semro
Daron Sharps
Aaron Sheehan
Amy Shuman
Kate Umble Smucker
Nicholas Southwick
Lauren Spavelko
Emily Spear
Beth Stotts
Imogene & Bruce
Jenny Szabo
Barbara Tarrh
Maria Thompson Corely
Susannah Thornton
Evelyn Trier
Lisa Vaas
Katharine & Dave Velleman
Dan Vera
Rachel Veto
Jenna Wang
Beverly Waring
Christopher Wicks
Todd Wilson
Elaine Wu
Alison Yakabe
Lidiya Yankovskaya
Steven Yao
Haesoo Yoon
Lu Yu
We’re proud that our donor roster includes 100% of Juventas board, staff and ensemble members, plus 35 composer and musician collaborators.
We are also extremely thankful to the dedicated volunteers who gave their time and talents to Juventas in the past year:
Chris Beagan
Milan Galland
Elizabeth Igleheart
Ann MacDonald
Rachael McKenzie
Jonathon Sedarski
Elaine Walsh
Julia Scott Carey, piano
