Diego Caetano
Piano/Artistic Director
Brazilian pianist Diego Caetano was considered by the Italian newspaper La Stampa "a gifted pianist with a brilliant technique and musicality." He has been performing widely as soloist and chamber musician throughout the USA, Brazil, Chile, Europe, Asia, and Africa, including performances at New York's Carnegie Hall, Yokohama's Philia Hall, Lisbon's Palácio da Foz, Rio de Janeiro's Sala Cecília Meireles, and London's Royal Albert Hall.
He has worked with conductors such as Michael Palmer, Paul Hostetter, Neil Thomson, Rodrigo de Carvalho, Guilherme Bernstein, Joaquim Jayme, Daniel Guedes, and others. He has been featured in recitals and concerto appearances at the Grand Teton Music Festival, Louisiana International Piano Series, Durango's Conservatory Music of the Mountains, Bangkok's Asia Pacific Saxophone Academy, and Brasília's International Music Festival. An advocate for contemporary music, he has premiered works by composers Robert Spillman, Anne Guzzo, Marlos Nobre, Roger Goeb, and Guilherme Bernstein.
Dr. Caetano received the top prizes in more than fifty national and international piano competitions, including Bonn Prize International Music Competition (2020), Bucharest Pro Piano International Piano Competition (2018), London's Grand Prix Virtuoso (2016), Carnegie Hall Debut International Concerto Competition (2014), MTNA Young Artist - Steinway & Sons (2011), "Spartacco Rossi" Piano Competition (2010), "Arnaldo Estrella" Piano Competition (2008), and many more. He has also won special awards including Best Interpreter of Brazilian Composers, Best Interpreter of Spanish Composers, and Prix d'Excellence in Performance.
Dr. Caetano graduated with a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder, a Master of Music degree from the University of Wyoming, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Universidade Federal de Goiás (Brazil).
Diego Caetano maintains an active schedule as an educator. He is the co-founder and the Director of Keyboard Studies at Ávila International Music Festival in Ávila (Spain).
Dr. Caetano is an Assistant Professor of Piano at Sam Houston State University, and a Shigeru Kawai Artist.
Evgeny Zvonnikov
Violin
Championing both classical and contemporary repertoire, Russian violinist Evgeny Zvonnikov is requently invited as a solo, chamber musician, and by various orchestras, he has performed in the main concert halls of St. Petersburg, and he has toured with ensembles in Japan, Finland, France, Brazil. Switzerland, Mexico, Spain, Thailand, Singapore and Italy.
As a member of the Grammy nominated St. Petersburg String Quartet, Mr. Zvonnikov performed in the greatest halls and participated in many summer music festivals and concert series in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia. In 2011, the St. Petersburg String Quartet played a concert in New York’s Carnegie Hall with the Wichita State University Symphony Orchestra.
He served for several years as Associate Concertmaster of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and Concertmaster of the Wichita Grand Opera Orchestra.
Evgeny is a prizewinner in several competitions. Evgeny received the top prizes at the “Golden Classical Music Awards”, USA (2021), the “Bonn Prize International Music Competition”, Germany (2020), “Hays Young Artists Competition”, (USA (2012). Additional awards include Second Prizes in the “Maria Yudina Chamber Music Competition” (Russia), “Concorso Città di Massa Concurso per giovani musicisti”, Italy (2021), and the “American Protégé International Concerto Competition”, where he performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2016.
Evgeny Zvonnikov joined the music faculty of West Texas A & M University and Harrington String Quartet in Canyon, Texas in 2017. He also serves as violin faculty at the Avila International Music Festival in Spain. Other pedagogical highlights include master classes in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Singapore, Dallas, Eureka Springs, the San Francisco Conservatory, and Manaus Conservatory.
Evgeny Zvonnikov currently is studying toward a Doctor of Musical Arts with a specialization in Performance at Texas Tech University. Mr. Zvonnikov holds a Master of Music degree from Wichita State University and Master of Music degree from St. Petersburg State Conservatory.
Lorenzo Mesenguer
Cello
Professor of cello and Artistic Director at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de
Castilla y León in Salamanca, Lorenzo Meseguer combines his teaching activity with his
performing career. He has been member of the prestigious City of Birmingham
Symphony Orchestra and currently performs as member at the Balthasar Neumann
Ensemble.
Born in Murcia, he earned a place at the city’s conservatory before continuing his
studies at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música in Madrid, Mozarteum University
Salzburg and Royal Academy of Music in London, achieving the highest honours on
each occasion. He has won prizes in more than a dozen national and international
competitions, including the Liezen International Cello Competition (Austria) and first
prize and Don Juan de Borbón Foundation special prize at the V Florián de Ocampo
National Cello Competition (Spain).
Having made his debut as a soloist at the age of 12, he has been expanding his career
ever since. He opened the 2011-12 season at the Auditorio de Murcia, performing
Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Orquesta Sinfónica de la Región de
Murcia, with whom he more recently performed the Dvořák Cello Concerto, again to
great acclaim from audience and critics alike. He has recorded works by Haydn, C.P.E.
Bach and Saint-Saëns, as well as the concertos of Elgar and Lalo, for Radio Nacional de
España. Meseguer is a founding member of the Cuarteto Seikilos, which was awarded
the 2021 Festclásica Emerging Ensemble prize. This gives the quartet the opportunity
to perform at Spain’s leading music festivals.
The cellist’s interest in chamber music has led him to train with Wolfgang Redik
(Vienna Piano Trio), Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartett), the Brentano Quartet, Emerson
Quartet, Minetti Quartett and Trio di Parma, and at Montreal’s McGill University. He
has also performed with artists including Nicolas Altstaedt, Kolja Blacher, Guy
Braunstein, Gordan Nikolitch, Sir Simon Rattle, Wolfgang Redik, Elisabeth Scholl,
Arabella Steinbacher, and the Scharoun Ensemble Berliner Philharmoniker. Lorenzo
Meseguer plays a Richard Duke cello (London, 1770).
Lana Kuščer
Flute
Lana Kuščer performed as concerto soloist in Carnegie Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, and Houston’s Jones Hall. She has given recitals throughout Europe, United States and Asia, including performances at London’s Houses of Parliament and Lizbon’s Palácio Foz. She performed Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto at the Sarasota Music Festival, and was a featured artist at Festival ARTIS, Imago Sloveniae, London August Music Festival, Shanghai Conservatory Jazz Music Season, and as contemporary chamber musician at Opus XXI Festival in France and Germany.
Kuščer is the Flute Professor at Sam Houston State University and a member of Richardson Symphony Orchestra, with past positions including Orchester Jakobsplatz München, Classical Concert Chamber Orchestra, and collaborations with English National Opera. Prizes include Elise Meyer Competition (Germany), Euritmia (Italy), TEMSIG (Slovenia), UNT Concerto Competition, and the National Presser Foundation Music Award (USA).
Kuščer is an Honors graduate of Royal College of Music London (BM), Hochschule für Musikund Theater Hamburg (MM), Royal Danish Academy of Music (MM exchange), and holds a Doctorate degree from the University of North Texas, where she was a Toulouse Fellowship Scholar.
Cello
Nate Smith
Music Psychology
Nate Smith is an assistant professor of counselor education at St. Bonaventure University where he teaches a broad range of counseling courses. He has nearly a decade of experience teaching and providing counseling services.
Nate’s research interests include internalized homophobia within the LGBTQIA community, narrative approaches in qualitative research, and the application of feminist counseling theories, specifically relational cultural theory.
While technically from many places, Nate called Wyoming home the longest. He holds a B.A. in Music, studying jazz piano, and an M.S. in Counseling — both from the University of Wyoming. He earned his Ph.D. in Counselor Education from Texas Tech University.
Nate is a licensed professional counselor in the state of Texas where he provides clinical counseling, consultation, and supervision services while specializing in working with LGBTQIA clients.
On a personal note, he is based in Houston, Texas, and is a world traveling amateur Portuguese-speaking jazz pianist happily married to a renowned Brazilian concert pianist. He is parent to a 4-year-old goldendoodle named Maple and two cats, Hugo and Pearl.