MEET THE MUSICIANS | 2021 CONCERT SERIES

Anne-Marie Brown​, violin

Anne-Marie Brown, a member of the Kansas City Symphony since 2001, performs extensively as soloist and chamber musician throughout the Kansas City area. The Kansas City Star has described her performances as displaying "splendid virtuosity, with a rich impressive tone" and KCMetropolis has said her "playing was stellar, with lyricism and technique to spare." The Miami Herald has noted her work's "silky, suave tone and unaffected beauty." In recent seasons, she has been a frequent soloist with the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, a guest musician with Summerfest, and a member of  the newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, recording a work for piano trio on the Navona label in 2012. In addition, she serves on the faculty of the Heartland Chamber Music Festival.
Previously, she was a member of the New World Symphony, where she appeared as both concertmaster and soloist. She holds degrees from Northwestern University and Manhattan School of Music.
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Dr. Jane Carl, ​clarinet

Jane Carl, Professor of Clarinet at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music, received her degrees from the University of Michigan.  She has been a member of the South Bend Symphony, the Flint Symphony, and the Michigan Opera Theater Orchestra in Detroit, and performed with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.  She performs regularly with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, as acting assistant principal clarinet from 1999-2003.  She can often be heard performing with the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra and the Kansas City Symphony.  She was the artistic chair of ClarinetFest 2008, the annual conference of the International Clarinet Association, held in Kansas City.  Dr. Carl performed at the 2007 China International Clarinet and Saxophone Festival in Beijing, and the 2009 ClarinetFest in Porto Portugal.  In the fall of 2009, she became the Chair of UMKC’s Instrumental Studies Division.  She has performed with Summerfest for over two decades and is a member of the Artistic Committee which selects music heard at Summerfest concerts.  ​

Maria Crosby, cello

Maria Crosby received her undergraduate degree in cello performance from Depaul University in Chicago where she studied with Stephen Balderston and Tanya Carey. She went on to earn a master's degree from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, under the tutelage of Peter Stumpf.
Maria joined the Kansas City Symphony in 2012. In addition to full-time orchestral playing, she is also an active chamber musician. She has performed on stages across the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Lithuania, Armenia, Greece, Russia, Japan, and Brazil, and has participated in a variety of orchestral and chamber music festivals, including the Aegean Verdi Festival, the Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival, the Pacific Music Festival, the Banff Chamber Music Residency, the Recontres francoaméricaines de Musique de Chambre and the Pine Mountain Music Festival. Maria first performed with Summerfest in 2014.
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Tony DeMarco, violin

Tony DeMarco has been a member of the Kansas City Symphony for 14 seasons.  His previous professional experience includes Assistant Concertmaster of both the Virginia and North Carolina Symphonies, substitute for the Pittsburgh Symphony, and a member of the Pittsburgh Opera and Ballet Orchestra.  He was raised in the South Hills of Pittsburgh then enrolled at Carnegie- Mellon University at age 16, then transferred to Oberlin Conservatory where he earned an artist’s diploma.  Having chosen his career path at age 9, Tony credits the violin, his mother Bonnie, and his teacher Albert Hirtz of the Pittsburgh Symphony for the opportunity to travel to Asia, Europe, and all around the United States, making lasting friends and playing great music.  Best among those friends is his wonderful wife, Jeannine Elashewich.  Together with sons Albert and Roman, they now reside in a “Little House in Prairie Village.”

Alexander (Alex) East, ​cello

Alexander East is the Assistant Principal Cellist of the Kansas City Symphony.  In addition to duties with the Symphony, which often include leading the section as principal for opera, ballet, and chamber orchestra performances, he is also heard frequently in recitals and chamber music concerts throughout the Kansas City region and with the Sun Valley (ID) Summer Symphony every year since 1992.  Before settling in Kansas City, East spent two seasons as a member of the New World Symphony under the direction of conductor Michael Tilson Thomas.  He received his training at Indiana University and the New England Conservatory of music.  His teachers have included Tsuyushi, Tsutsumi, Jano Starker, Laurence Lesser, and Colin Carr.  He has performed with Summerfest since 2001 and serves on the Artistic Committee which selects the music heard in Summerfest Concerts.
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Michael Gordon, ​flute

Michael Gordon serves as the Principal Flutist of the Kansas City Symphony. Prior to joining the Kansas City Symphony, he was a member of the New World Symphony, where he performed as a soloist in 2007. Gordon has performed with several orchestras across the United States, including the St. Louis Symphony and the Minnesota Orchestra. In 2004, he earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees from Rice University. His teachers include Leone Buyse and Marianne Gedigian. Gordon serves on the Artistic Committee which selects the music heard in Summerfest Concerts. 

Rena Ishii, violin

Stephanie Larsen, violin

Duke Lee, viola

Jessica Nance, viola

Melissa Rose, piano ​

Pianist Melissa Rose has a 30-year career partnering with instrumentalists and singers in concerts throughout the United States and at venues in Argentina, Malta, Santorini, and Russia.  She regularly collaborates with ALIAS Chamber Ensemble, the Nashville Ballet, in chamber music and song recitals, and as an official pianist for national and international music competitions and conferences.  Melissa’s chamber music recordings are on the Naxos, Centaur, Blue Griffin, Good Child Music, and Delos labels.  She is Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Piano at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music, where she teaches collaborative piano and coaches chamber music.  Melissa enjoys living in Nashville, TN, with her husband, Dan Schafer, and their adopted miniature schnauzers, Oscar and Ranger.  She is delighted to return to Kansas City for her 26th season with Summerfest.
 
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Ebonee Thomas, flute

Hailed for her “verve and pizazz” and the “gleaming purity” of her artistry by the Miami Herald, Ebonee Thomas is Second Flute and Piccolo of The Dallas Opera. She will be joining the faculty of UMKC Conservatory as Assistant Professor of Flute beginning this Fall. She has previously served  as Principal Flute of the Knoxville Symphony and the Florida Grand Opera, and spent one year as Second Flute of the Houston Symphony. In addition she has performed as Guest Principal Flute with the Seattle Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Santa Fe Opera, and the Fort Worth Symphony. Ebonee has also performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Oregon Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Detroit Symphony and Dallas Symphony.
Ebonee completed a four-year fellowship with the prestigious New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson-Thomas. In addition to performing at Carnegie Hall, she was a featured soloist under Tilson-Thomas, performing Joan Tower’s Flute Concerto and the North American premiere of Christian Lindberg’s flute concerto, The World of Montuagretta.
Along with performing orchestral repertoire, Ebonee is an avid chamber musician, applauded as a “standout” by Theater Jones in her latest performance for the Fine Arts Chamber Players. She performs regularly with the Austin Chamber Music Society and Voices of Change, a new music ensemble in Dallas, TX. She was a finalist for the Austin Arts Awards for her performance of Valerie Coleman’s Danza de la Mariposa, for solo flute. Ebonee has been a member of the Firebird Ensemble with Seraphic Fire and can be heard on several of their released recordings including The Brandenburg Project. Ebonee had the rare opportunity to perform John Adams’ Chamber Symphony in Carnegie Hall under the composer’s baton. She also served as Principal Flute of the Star Wars in Concert! Orchestra during their U.S., Canada, and Mexico tour and was Principal Flute of the American Repertory Theater’s revival of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.
Ebonee received her Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance degree from Southern Methodist University and received her Master of Music degree from New England Conservatory of Music. She is a Burkart Piccolo Artist and her principal teachers Jean Larson Garver, Claire Johnson, Helen Blackburn, and Fenwick Smith.

Daniel (Dan) Velicer, piano

An active performer and teacher, Dan Velicer appears regularly with the Kansas City Symphony, Trio Fedele, and the Lyric Arts Trio.  He is a frequent collaborator with members of the Kansas City Symphony and the UMKC Conservatory faculty. Velicer also helps university and high school students prepare for recitals and competitions. 
Prior to arriving in Kansas City, he was an Opera Coach Fellow at the Aspen Music Festival and the head staff pianist at the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music.  Along with his wife, Kristi, Velicer was on the faculty of the Rocky Mountain Summer Conservatory where he coached chamber music, leads master classes, and performs with faculty. 
He received his bachelor of arts degree from Cornell University, majoring in both anthropology and music.  He received his master of music degree from Rice University.