Piano

Albina Asryan began her musical studies at the age of seven in Turkmenistan. In 1992 she graduated from the Turkmenistan National Conservatory with a Masters Degree in piano performance. Albina has received several national prizes as a soloist and an accompanist. Ms. Asryan taught and accompanied students at the Turkmenistan Conservatory and Special Music School in Ashkhabad and Armenia. She joined the NSA piano accompanying staff this fall.

Enrico Elisi has performed extensively in Europe, America, and Asia. He has developed an interest in contemporary music and has premiered works dedicated to him at debut recitals in France, New York’s Carnegie Recital Hall, and at the 4th International Festival of Contemporary Music in Lima, Peru. Elisi is active as a teacher and has taught master classes throughout the US, South America, Asia and Europe. He is currently on the Faculty of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and holds a guest professorship at the China Academy of Arts, in Hangzhou, China where he is also artistic adviser. In 2005, Elisi directed the Piano Institute of the Las Vegas Music Festival. He later co-founded the Green Valley Chamber Music Festival of which he is artistic director. In addition, he is an active adjudicator of piano competitions such as the Tremplin International, the Concour de Musique du Canada, and the Iowa Piano Competition. Mr. Elisi received his Masters and Doctoral degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, where he studied with Leon Fleisher. Elisi also holds degrees from the Conservatory of Florence and the International Piano Academy of Imola, where he studied with Lazar Berman, Alexander Lonquich and Boris Petrushansky.

Paul Hesselink (Organ) - Received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Organ from Hope College, a Master of Arts degree in Organ Pedagogy from the Ohio State University, and the doctor of Musical Arts degree in Organ Performance from the University of Colorado, Boulder. His organ teachers included Roger Rietberg, Wilbur Held, Arthur Poister, Everett Hilty and Don Vollstedt and he studied harpsichord with Davitt Moroney in Paris. After twenty-six years teaching at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia he retired as Professor Emeritus. He received Longwoods’ Maria Bristow Starke Faculty Excellence Award in 1985. He was awarded National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar grants two summers for extensive study at Yale University and at the Arnold Schoenberg Institute at the University of Southern California. In April 1996, Dr. Hesselink was the harpsichordist for the world premiere performance of the Nevett Bartow Concerto for Harpsichord and Chamber Orchestra with the Nevada Chamber Orchestra in Las Vegas. The following June he recorded the work with members of the Slovak Radio Orchestra in Bratislava, Slovakia. From 1993 to July of 2005 Dr. Hesselink was the Dean of the Nevada School of the Arts. Since 1994, he has been an adjunct member of the Music Faculty at the UNLV where he teaches organ and organ repertoire class. Dr. Hesselink is an active member of the Southern Nevada Chapter of the American Guild of Organists; he currently serves as the Convener of the Grand Canyon District of the Guild.

Petya Karakoleva graduated magna cum laude from the National School of Music “Dobrin Petkov” in Plovdiv, Bulgaria in 2002 with a degree in piano performance and pedagogy. Her acceptance as a piano performance major with a full scholarship brought her to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she studied with Dr. Mykola Suk and received her Bachelor of Music in 2006. Ms. Karakoleva won the Grand Prize in the 2003 James K. Huntzinger Solo Competition and appeared as a soloist with the UNLV Symphony Orchestra. She has received UNLV Piano Department’s Honors Jury Award several times. She has been a staff pianist for the music and dance programs at UNLV since 2002. In 2005 she was the pianist for the national conference of the Ballet Masters of America in Las Vegas. She also has served as a pianist for the Dance Educator of America’s yearly summer seminars. In November 2006, she performed with flutist Mr. Paul Edmund-Davis, former London Symphony Orchestra Principal. Ms. Karakoleva has joined the Nevada Ballet Theater as their ballet pianist. Petya is on the NSA faculty as a piano teacher and a staff accompanist.

Michelle Lee graduated from the Las Vegas Academy of Performing Arts as a valedictorian in 1997 and continued her piano studies with Gary Amano at Utah State University. In 2001 she graduated with a Piano Pedagogy Diploma and a Bachelor’s in Accounting. She joined the Seattle office of Ernst and Young as an auditor for two years and became a licensed CPA. She returned to Las Vegas in 2004 to pursue teaching, accompanying and performing. She currently has her own studio and is a staff accompanist for the UNLV Opera Program and Nevada School of the Arts.

Voltaire Verzosa, countertenor and pianist, Mr. Verzosa received his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance degree from the University of Montana and his Master of Music in Voice Performance degree from the University of Colorado. Specializing in 17th and 18th century vocal music, he has been a guest countertenor soloist with several major orchestras and ensembles. Mr. Verzosa teaches voice and piano privately at his home as well as at the
College of Southern Nevada and NSA.