Duos

Christopher Davis, pianist, has been concerto soloist with several orchestras including the Northwest Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, and has studied with renowned teachers and scholars in Germany, Austria, and Portugal. He earned his BA Degree from UC San Diego, his MM Degree from the University of Arkansas, and his DMA Degree from UCSB. In addition to serving as the Music Academy of the West’s House Manager (2009-2016), Dr. Davis has been on the staff of the Ojai Music Festival and Westmont College (2014-2016), and has worked for Camerata Pacifica, collaborating independently with many of their musicians.

Joaquin Gray, guitarist, is self-taught on that instrument as well as on the piano, and has played the many instruments of rock music and electronica, touring the U.S. with the experimental band Trance to the Sun. He received his BM Degree in Music Composition at UCSB, studying with Dr. Joel Feigin. Joaquin currently studies Flamenco guitar with the renowned choreographer Anna Galindo, in addition to collaborating in concerts as continuo player with the viola da gamba, amassing techniques to further his own compositions.

Jeannot Maha’a, cellist, is a specialist in historical performance practice on original instruments and studied at the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute. In 2010 he founded Editions Violone, a Santa Barbara-based publishing house specializing in scholarly performing editions of rare and little-known music of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, and currently heads an international team of musicologists in the search for forgotten music. Mr. Maha’a maintains a private cello and bass studio in SB, and performs on an Italian cello made in 1766.

Ellie Cornfeld Melton, harpsichordist, received her BA Degree in Music from the School of Music at the University of Oregon and her MA Degree in Early Music Performance Practice from Stanford University. She has performed at the Peter Britt Festival in Jacksonville, Oregon) Old First Church in San Francisco, and with the University of Pennsylvania Baroque Ensemble.

Adelle Rodkey, oboist, received her BM Degree in Music Pedagogy, magna cum laude, from Wheaton Conservatory of Music (Illinois), where she studied oboe with Carl Sonik. A native of Santa Barbara, she was an oboe student of Anne Anderson and a piano student of Lana Bodnar and Marilyn Clemons. Honors accorded her have included the President’s Award from Wheaton College, as well as awards from the Music Teachers National Association and the Pillsbury Foundation. Adelle performs frequently in several orchestras and chamber music ensembles, and is Instructor of Oboe at Westmont College. As a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas, she maintains a private studio of oboe and piano students.

Ken Ryals, baritone, holds an MM Degree from the University of Arizona and is an alumnus of SBCC, where he is now a faculty member. He performs in many different vocal milieux, ranging from opera to musical theater to jazz ensembles to cabaret entertainment, and his activities include serving as choreographer, composer/arranger, and director. He has toured with the vocal jazz group Cloudburst, and has produced a CD, Elements of Sunday Jazz, with guitarist Anthony Ybarra, with whom he performs regularly in Southern California.

Andrew Saunders, viola da gambist, received his early training from Bill Darst, Professor of Baroque Violin at Oberlin Conservatory, with continued study at Viola da Gamba Society of America workshops. As cellist and double bassist, he has performed with the SBCC Symphony and the West Coast Symphony, and with chamber ensembles including Ensemble Aquila, the Paradox Trio, and the band, Waters Rising. Andrew performs on a viola da gamba left to him by Bill Darst when he passed away, and it is his inspiration that keeps his music alive.

Ray Tischer, violist, has performed internationally and has recorded over 1500 soundtracks, TV series, commercials, and albums with Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, and other notables. Dr. Tischer earned his DMA Degree from USC in viola and musicology, and is an avid practitioner of early music performance practice and jazz, in addition to being an Integrative and Music Therapist at Cottage Hospital. He performs on a Pietro Pallotta viola, made in Perugia, Italy in 1809, which he inherited from his mother, the esteemed violist Ann Tischer.

A native Manhattanite, Eric Valinsky has, for more years than he would like to admit, maintained dual careers in computer systems architecture and music. He was educated at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the University of Illinois, finally achieving his DMA in music composition from Columbia University. He studied composition with Walter Aschaffenburg, Salvatore Martirano, Jack Beeson, and Darius Milhaud; piano with Sara Crawford Drogheo and Emil Danenberg; and conducting with Harold Farberman. While living in Los Angeles, he became music director and composer-in-residence for The Storie-Crawford Dance Theatre Ensemble. Returning to New York, he served in a similar capacity for Danny Buraczeski’s Jazzdance, Uris Bahr and Dancers, and The New American Ballet Ensemble as well as composer-in-residence for The Rachel Harms Dance Company, Opera Uptown, and the Dance Department at City College of New York. He is currently Music Director for the American Dance & Music Performance Group and moonlights as founder and partner of Inlineos LLC, a strategic Internet consulting company.