The Astralis Chamber Ensemble is an innovative and dynamic ensemble performing with much acclaim across the globe. Through creative programming and presentations on the works performed in a small ensemble setting, ACE aims to make classical music more accessible and for audiences to make a lasting connection to the music and performers. ACE includes an assortment of musicians to cover a broad range of repertoire and ensemble combinations to fit each type of performance. These musicians have performed together for many years and some for over a decade on major concert series and at notable universities. Another focus of the ensemble is to support the development of art through new compositions and bring recognition to the composers that surround us today.
Kris Marshall is principal trumpet with the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra and has built an active career performing with multiple orchestras across the state of Florida, including the Jacksonville Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Venice Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, and The Florida Orchestra. Marshall has been a featured soloist with the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra on many occasions and with the Fifth Avenue Chamber Orchestra in Naples, Florida. As a founding member of the Astralis Chamber Ensemble, he presents several chamber recital tours each year and participates in commission projects to increase the chamber repertoire for trumpet. He won first prize in the Florida Orchestra Young Artist Competition and was later selected to attend the Chautauqua Institution Summer Music Festival where he studied with Chuck Berginc, principal trumpet with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra. Other significant instructors include Robert Smith, principal trumpet with The Florida Orchestra, and Ed Cord, former principal trumpet with the Israel Philharmonic and Utah Symphony. Marshall pursued degrees in trumpet performance at Florida State University, Indiana University, and the University of South Florida.
Cellist, Claire Bryant enjoys an active and diverse career as a performer of chamber music, contemporary music, and the solo cello repertoire in premiere venues such as Carnegie Hall, Southbank Centre (UK), Suntory Hall (Japan), Lincoln Center (NYC), and the Barbican Centre (UK). She regularly performs with acclaimed ensembles in NYC such as the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Novus NY, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and is a founding member of Decoda, the Affiliate Ensemble of Carnegie Hall. Claire has collaborated with world-class artists including Emanuel Ax, Sir Simon Rattle, Meredith Monk, Daniel Hope, Dawn Upshaw, the Weilerstein Trio, and the Danish String Quartet, among others. As the 2010 recipient of the Robert Sherman McGraw Hill Companies award for excellence in community outreach and music education, Claire is the director of Decoda’s justice initiative which brings collaborative songwriting workshops to correctional institutions. This project, Music for Transformation, was selected for a performance at the White House under President Obama in 2015 and 2016. Claire is a graduate of The Juilliard School and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In 2019, she joined the faculty of the University of South Carolina School of Music as Assistant Professor of Cello.
Claire Marie Solomon is an avid solo, chamber, and orchestral musician. She recently toured the US with the Weimar Staatskapelle from Germany, performing major orchestral works in cities along the east coast with Maestro Kirill Karabits. Solomon performs regularly as part of the Gossamer Trio with flutist, Carol Wincenc and harpist, Nancy Allen. As an orchestral musician, she performs with the Sarasota Orchestra in Florida and is a regular participant in the Aspen Music Festival where she has worked for the Perlman Music Program on Long Island, NY and in Sarasota, FL. She also has a passion for academic subjects and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University while studying the cello with Ole Akahoshi. After completing her undergraduate degree, Ms. Solomon attended the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, studying privately with Eric Kim and receiving chamber music instruction from members of the Pacifica Quartet. Ms. Solomon won the Jacobs School’s Concerto Competition, culminating in a performance of the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No. 1 with the IU Philharmonic. Ms. Solomon plays a 2011 Whedbee cello and a late 18th century German Knopf bow.
Harpist, Haley Rhodeside is an award-winning and versatile young musician who makes her home in Orlando but regularly performs throughout the United States. She is currently the Principal Harp of both the Orlando Philharmonic and the Annapolis Symphony, and other ensembles she has performed with in the past season include the Baltimore Symphony, Florida Orchestra, and Colorado Springs Philharmonic. As a soloist, she was a first-prize winner of the Young Artists Harp Competition, a winner of the Miami Music Festival’s concerto competition, and a multiple-time finalist in the American Harp Society’s national competition, among other awards. Ms. Rhodeside is also a dedicated teacher and ambassador of the harp community. In 2020 she was appointed professor of harp at University of Central Florida and president of the Central Florida Chapter of the American Harp Society. Ms. Rhodeside holds an MM in Harp from Yale, and a BM in Harp and BS in Mathematics from Indiana University. Her major teachers were Dr. June Han, Susann McDonald, and Jan Jennings. She loves the music of Bach and discovering interesting new works for harp.
Chee-Hang See is a prize-winning pianist who has been called "a cool and confident performer" by the Charleston City Paper. He has performed in concert series and festivals such as the Festival Internacional de Colonia, Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra Musicale, South Carolina Chamber Music Festival, Chicago Duo Piano Festival, Hawaii International Cultural Arts Festival, and Piccolo Spoleto Festival. He has soloed with the Toa Payoh West Chinese Orchestra in Singapore; Bela Bartok Orchestra in Perugia, Italy; Montevideo Philharmonic in Uruguay; Charleston Symphony Orchestra; and the Cleveland Institute of Music Chamber Orchestra. He plays regularly with Charleston Symphony, Chamber Music Charleston, and his duo, Tan and See Piano Duo. Chee-Hang is currently on faculty at the Charleston Academy of Music and music director of the Midtown Theater in North Charleston, where he founded “Midweek at Midtown,” a chamber music series. His debut album “Violin Transcriptions,” featuring works by Rachmaninoff and Muczynski, was released in 2014. He received degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, College of Charleston, and diplomas from the Royal Schools of Music and Trinity College London under the tutelage of Sandra Shapiro, Enrique Graf, and Wong Joon Hwang. For more information, visit his website at www.cheehang.weebly.com.
Visit the Astralis Chamber Ensemble at www.astralisensemble.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
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Massey's debut album, The Elements, has been described as
“beautiful and enchanting, the performances on this CD are magical!” by Jeanne Baxtresser, former principal flute of the New York Philharmonic. All of the works selected relate to the elements of earth, water, wind, and fire. CDs can be purchased by emailing angmassey@gmail.com. |
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