Performers

Fall 2025

Spring 2026

Noe Garcia, Guitar

October 5, 2025

Noe Garcia’s concert engagements have taken him to Spain to perform as part of the Camino Artes concert series. In Summer of 2017,18,19 Noe traveled to China for the third time and performed a series of concerts in Qinhuangdao, Jinan, Dalian, Suzhou and Beijing with his guitar trio, Trio Resonance. Noe is a top prize winner of international competitions and has performed in master classes for world-renowned artists such as Manuel Barrueco, Pepe Romero, LAGQ and Beijing Duo.

Noe is passionate about music education and is currently working on doctoral studies at the University of North Texas where he was awarded a teaching fellowship. He loves and is dedicated to performing music from his home country and Latin America. He believes that, in this diverse and growing global society, music is a healing medium and can connect us to one another.

Alexei Romanenko, Cello

October 12, 2025

Russian-born cellist Alexei Romanenko is widely recognized for his elegant artistry, masterful technique, and commanding stage presence. Praised by critics like T.J. Medrek of the Boston Herald for his transcendent performances, Romanenko began his cello studies at age six and quickly rose to prominence, winning top honors in prestigious Russian competitions and becoming a Laureate of the “New Names” program. He later studied under Valentin Feygin at the Moscow Conservatory and moved to the United States in 1998 to pursue an Artist Diploma at the New England Conservatory, where he was mentored by Bernard Greenhouse and Laurence Lesser. His early U.S. successes included First Prize at the 8th International Music Competition in Vienna and the 2nd Web Concert Hall International Auditions.

Throughout his international career, Romanenko has performed in some of the world’s premier venues including Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Boston’s Jordan Hall, and the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. He has appeared on notable radio broadcasts such as “Voice of America” and WGBH Boston, and performed with acclaimed cellist Matt Haimovitz in the Jacksonville Symphony’s “Cellobration.” An accomplished arranger, he is known for his solo cello adaptation of Bach’s Chaconne. His recent and upcoming engagements span the United States and Canada, with appearances in major cities like New York, Chicago, and Vancouver. Alongside his solo and chamber performances, Romanenko serves as the principal cellist of the Jacksonville Symphony, continuing to captivate audiences with his versatile musicianship.

Seonghun Jeong, piano

October 26, 2025

Born in South Korea, Seonghun Jeong started playing the piano at the age of 14, but since then he has won many competitions, which include but are not limited to the First Prize in the 10th Korea international Ensemble Competition, the First Prize in the 21st Music Chunchoo Edition Competition, the First Prize in the 24th Korea Nanpa Competition, the First Prize in 2014 The Music Education News Competition, the First Prize in the Korean Listz Association Competition, the First Prize in the 10th Korea Universal Competition, the First Prize in the 25th Music Journal National Competition, the First Prize in the Haneum Music Competition, and the First Prize in the 2011 Incheon Education Superintendent Competition.

Seonghun has a strong expertise in quickly identifying a student’s strengths and weaknesses, and providing quick and actionable solutions, regardless of the student’s level. His students describe his lessons as “Passionate”, “Very Fun”, and “Extremely Inspiring”.

Seonghun graduated summa cum laude from Yonsei University in Seoul with a Bachelor of Music degree. He is currently pursuing the Performer's Diploma degree at Southern Methodist University (SMU). Moreover, SMU offered him a full scholarship which is usually offered to only one student in the Department of Music in one year.

Seonghun currently serves as a piano faculty member at Prime Music Institute.

Jay gardner, voice

November 2, 2025

Jay Gardner is a versatile performer at home in opera, musical theater and cabaret. He  has performed with the Dallas Opera, St. Petersburg (FL) Opera, Lyric Stage, Circle  Theater, The Dallas Theater Center and Sammons Cabaret to name a few. He was a  soloist in the Carnegie Hall Premier of Sing For The Cure and has appeared at the  Crested Butte Music Festival in Colorado and the Cherry Creek Music Festival in  Fredericksburg, Texas. In 2014 Jay had the honor of attending the prestigious Eugene  O’Neill Theater Center as a Cabaret Fellow where he studied with international cabaret  Artist Barb Junger and Tony and Emmy Award winner John McDaniel. He has also  attended the St. Louis Cabaret Conference where he worked with Faith Prince, Marilyn  Maye and Ann Hampton Callaway among others. Jay co-authors The Music Men, a  monthly column reviewing original cast albums and solo recordings by noted cabaret  artists, for Theaterjones.com. Jay serves as Founder and Artistic Director of Front Line  Cabaret which is dedicated to bringing the art of cabaret to audiences in North Texas.  Currently, he serves as an Associate Professor at Collin College where he teaches  musical theater song interpretation and voice.

Desiree Elsevier, Viola

February 22, 2026

A native of New York, Désirée Elsevier enjoyed a distinguished tenure as a full-time violist with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra before relocating to Dallas, Texas, in 2020. Since then, she has remained a vital presence in the classical music scene, performing with The Dallas Opera, Fort Worth Symphony, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Austin Symphony, and Voices of Change, as well as at the Victoria Bach Festival. Elsevier is also a principal violist with Classical Tahoe, a summer festival orchestra in Lake Tahoe, and has been a viola coach at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland since 2015. She also coaches at the Chamber Music Conference and Composers’ Forum of the East. Her international involvement extends to the World Orchestra for Peace, an ensemble founded by Sir Georg Solti and now led by Valery Gergiev, which performs globally in the name of peace.

Elsevier’s solo performances include the Bartók Viola Concerto with the Sunnyside Symphony in Portland, Oregon, and the Greeley Philharmonic in Colorado, as well as the premiere of Glen Cortese’s Viola Concerto in Buffalo, New York. She began her professional journey as Assistant Principal Viola with the Orchestra di San Carlo in Naples, Italy. In addition to her extensive orchestral work, she has contributed to numerous soundtracks and albums. Academically, she holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Cornell University, where she also studied composition, followed by a Bachelor’s and Master’s in music from the Manhattan School of Music under Lillian Fuchs and Karen Tuttle. Elsevier credits her early teachers—Harry Alshin, Frances Magnes, and Sonya Monosoff—for shaping her musical path. She performs on a 1972 Otto Stam viola, known for its unique “dragon blood” stain.

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