Neil Di Maggio, pianist, enjoys a dual career as solo and collaborative pianist and as a researcher for Westmont College. His performing career has taken him from California to Phoenix to New York City, and he recently served on the faculty of the Westmont Academy for Young Artists. He earned his BM Degree, summa cum laude, from San Jose State University, MM Degree from the San Francisco Conservatory, and MM Degree in Collaborative Piano from UCSB, studying with Paul Berkowitz Anne Epperson, and Yael Weiss. Currently Director of Research in the Office of College Advancement at Westmont, Neil maintains a private piano studio, and his students are frequent award winners with the Santa Barbara Music Club and the Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation competitions.

Recently relocated to Santa Barbara from Gilroy, CA, Candace Fazzio is a well-rounded pianist and teacher with a special interest in composers from the American continents beginning with the Ragtime Era and moving to the present day. Her constantly-expanding repertoire also includes lyrical arrangements of popular music standards. She has also created well-received live piano accompaniments for silent movies such as Chaplin’s The Tramp, several Harold Lloyd films including the full-length feature The Kid Brother, and Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr. Candace has performed as a soloist with South Valley Symphony and Chorale and in the San Juan Bautista SHP museum for Living History Days and has participated in both the Sutter Creek and West Coast Ragtime Festivals. She has presented her programs “Beyond the Maple Leaf Rag, How Syncopation Led to a Century of Keyboard Music,” and “Piano Music with a Latin Flavor,” to state-level conferences of the California Association of Professional Music Teachers and the Music Teachers’ Association of California. Candace’s teaching career began in Saratoga, CA in 1973. In 1995, she opened The Music Academy, located in downtown Gilroy, which, in addition to instruction in piano, guitar, and voice, presented periodic concerts featuring local musicians.

Constantine Finehouse was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and attended New England Conservatory, Juilliard and Yale. His principal teachers included Fredrik Wanger, Natalia Harlap, Herbert Stessin, Jerome Lowenthal, Boris Berman and Bruce Brubaker. Praised by Rhein Main Presse Allgemeine Zeitung for his “interpretations of depth and maturity,” Finehouse has performed extensively in the US (including in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Washington) and abroad (including in Lausanne, London, Odessa, St. Petersburg and Trieste). Recent recordings include Backwards Glance [Spice Rack Records 101-01], which interweaves music of Johannes Brahms and Richard Beaudoin. The Bolcom Project, made in collaboration with his American Double partner, violinist Philip Ficsor, included double-CD [Albany Troy 959/960] and a national tour. Fanfare praised the recording as “indispensable to any serious collector with an interest in later 20th century duo repertoire for violin and piano.” As part of American Double, Finehouse also toured Hungary, performing sonatas by Brahms, Bolcom and Ravel. More recently, he collaborated with violinist Olga Caceànova at Lausanne Conservatoire and with cellist Sebastian Bäverstam at Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall) and Merkin Recital Hall (Kauffman Center). Finehouse is currently recording Bolcom’s complete piano solo works for Naxos Records.

Bridget Hough, pianist, is equally at home in solo, chamber, and duo repertoire, and is regularly engaged for competitions, performances, and recording projects. A piano student of Paul Berkowitz, Robert Koenig, and Betty Oberacker, she has been an invited pianist for summer festivals, including SongFest at the Colburn School (Los Angeles), the Schubert-Institut (Austria), and the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar, where she was a Fellow for two seasons. She earned her B.M. Degree summa cum laude and her D.M.A. Degree from UCSB. Committed to new music, Dr. Hough has premiered works by many contemporary composers, including Tom Cipullo, Juliana Hall, Jake Heggie, Libby Larsen, Thea Musgrave, John Musto and John Villar.

Natasha Kislenko, pianist, was born in Moscow and has concertized extensively as soloist and collaborative pianist in Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Paraguay, Russia, Spain, Turkey, and across the United States. In 1996 she made her Carnegie Hall solo recital debut, and has appeared in recital and chamber music performances with numerous distinguished soloists, including James Buswell, Sarah Chang, Theodore Kuchar, Zvi Zeitlin, and Donald Weilerstein. She has received top prizes in international piano competitions in Germany, France, Portugal, and the Slovak Republic, and holds graduate degrees from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and Southern Methodist University (TX), earning her DMA Degree from Stony Brook University (NY). Her primary teachers include Anatoly Vedernikov, Yuri Slesarev, Joaquín Achúcarro, and Gilbert Kalish.

Recent solo engagements include the Eskisehir Greater Municipality Symphony Orchestra, Turkey (2015), the Orquesta Sinfónica del Congreso Nacional, Asunción, Paraguay (2013), and the Varna Chamber Orchestra, Bulgaria (2013). In 2011 she and violinist Chavdar Parashkevov released a CD, “Russian Sonatas,” available on spotify.com, itunes, and other websites. Since 2010 she has been Principal Keyboard with the Santa Barbara Symphony and has been a featured soloist with the orchestra in concertos by Grieg, Clara Schumann, and Shostakovich.

In addition to a successful performing career, Dr. Kislenko has been a dedicated educator and mentor to the younger generations of aspiring musicians. She has recently appeared in performances and master classes at the University of Maryland College Park, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Houston Moores School of Music (TX), Morgan State University (MD), Tulane University (LA), Fort Hays State University (KS), Ankara University (Turkey), Scuola Musicale di Sesto Fiorentino (Italy) and Würzburg Musikhochschule (Germany), in addition to numerous adjudications for MTNA and MTAC.

An alumna of the Music Academy of the West (2001), Natasha has been a collaborative faculty member there since 2004. After serving on the faculty at California State University, Fresno, for five years, she joined the faculty at UCSB in 2007, where she is currently a Lecturer.

Kacey Link is a pianist and scholar residing in Santa Barbara, CA. As a both a solo and collaborative artist, she performs regularly in Southern California and has given recitals in the United States, France, and Switzerland. She is a pianist for University of California—Santa Barbara Department of Theater and Dance and served as music director for Out of the Box Theatre Company for the 2014-2015 season. She also has worked as a pianist for Opera Santa Barbara, Kansas City Lyric Opera, and New Theatre of Kansas City as well as accompanied classes for such prestigious artists as Marilyn Horne, Yo-Yo Ma, and ballerina Heather Watts. As a scholar, her research focuses on the music of Latin America with specific concentration on tango music of Argentina and has co-authored the forthcoming book Tracing Tangueros: Argentine Instrumental Tango Music (Oxford University Press). She holds degrees from University of California – Santa Barbara (D.M.A. in Keyboard), University of Miami (M.M. in Musicology), and University of Kansas (M.M. in Accompanying, B.M. in Piano Performance).

Svetlana Rudikova-Harris, pianist, was born in Russia and is an internationally renowned solo and collaborative pianist, recording artist, and pedagogue. She earned three Masters Degrees in Performance as well as the Special Award for Excellence in Piano Performance and Instruction at the Russian National Education Competition. Gold Medalist in the Russian National Young Performance competition at age 16, she won the Russian Choral Conducting, National Piano Prize, and Russian Piano Competitions. Svetlana has recorded on the Melodiya label and has performed for over 20 years with sister-in-law Tracy Harris, both in orchestral concerts and in their “Wyndfall Duo.” In addition, she conducts clinics, and lectures and maintains a private piano studio.

Mao Saito was born in Osaka, Japan in 1986. She graduated as the best student from Kyoto City University of Arts in 2009. From 2010 to 2012, she studied at Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin with Prof. Fabio Bidini, attaining a Master of Music with the best note in 2012. Mao Ishida won the “Ugorski Special Prize for an outstanding performance of Schumann” at the ARD International Piano Competition in Germany in 2011, the third prize at the 8th piano competition Prix Amadèo in Aachen in 2012, and the second prize at the 6th Berlin piano competition in 2012. She was on a scholarship from Yamaha Music Foundation from 2012-2015, and got “Final round scholarship” at the 60^th Busoni International Piano Competition in 2015. She often performs chamber music in Japan and Berlin and works as an accompanist.