Dr. Monica Roberson, Director
Monica Roberson, D.M.A, is a recognized performer, composer and music educator. Before receiving her Doctorate of Music in Composition/Theory and Piano Performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Roberson also studied at Peabody Conservatory of Music where she received her Master’s of Music and the University of North Florida where she received her Bachelor’s of Education in Music.
As a pianist, she has performed throughout the United States to rave reviews. She has been featured on public television in Jacksonville, FL. Her piano playing has been described as “passionate and energetic.” She has competed in various piano competitions and received awards such as third place winner of the DeBose National Piano Competition.
As a composer, Dr. Roberson has composed various pieces ranging from solo to symphonic works. Her music has appeared in master classes with world-renowned vocalist, Dawn Upshaw. She has won several composition competitions, some of which include winner of the Margaret Blackburn Composition Competition. She was also awarded the Eubie Blake Scholar Award for outstanding musician and composer. During her studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she was awarded a grant from the Women’s Studies program in order to compose her chamber opera piece titled “A Room of One’s Own” based on the book by Virginia Woolf. She currently accepts commissions and participates in collaborations with artists. With every note she writes, she strives to touch the souls of listeners through rich, colorful, and energetic sounds.
As a teacher, Dr. Roberson has received positive ratings from her students. She teaches piano, strings, woodwind, brass and percussion. Her students have won various competitions and scholarships such as first place in the ACT-SO competition for vocal performance and second place in the ACT-SO competition for violin performance. She has recently taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Spelman College, Howard University, the University of Maryland at Baltimore County and Anne Arundel Community College. She has also assisted with the growth and development of private piano programs at the Nathan Carter School of Music, Maryland Conservatory of Music and Champaign School of Music. Dr. Roberson is a recipient of the Guild Teachers’ National Honor Roll Award from the American College of Musicians for preparing top students for piano adjudication and international composition contests. In 2022, she was award the Piano Guild Hall of Fame. Dr. Roberson is currently a part-time professor at Howard Community College.
Dr. Roberson is also active in church music ministry. She has served as musician and assistant director at the Cross Creek Presbyterian Church and Mt. Nebo Baptist Church in Jacksonville, FL, Warner Baptist Church in Falls Church, VA, and Friendship Lutheran Church in Savoy, IL. She has also served as the Director of Music at the Oakland Baptist Church in Alexandria, VA.
Additionally, Dr. Roberson is a writer and publisher. She has written several articles for Salem Press and EBSCO Publishing’s multi-volume of biographical and analytical publication of Musicians and Composers of the 20th Century as well as The Forties in America. She has also written several articles in their upcoming multi-volume of The Twenties in America, The Thirties in America, and Great Lives from History: African Americans. She is currently engaged in research in reference to popular ethnic music, women in music, spectral music, and theory and analysis of 20th century music. Dr. Roberson is also the publisher of Roberson Music Publishing Company where several of her works have been published. To learn more about Dr. Roberson, visit her website.
Dr. Summer Xue Xia
Dr. Summer Xue Xia graduated from University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music with a degree of Doctor of Musical Arts.
As a professional, Dr. Xia has had various solo and chamber performances. She has participated in numerous master classes, festivals and recitals. She was previously selected as a performer to represent the University of Cincinnati in the “National Association of Schools of Music.” She was awarded second prize winner for piano solo and sixth prize winner for piano duo at the Third Hong Kong Chinese Piano Works Competition. She also received second prize at Hong Kong Beethoven Piano Competition. Dr. Xia was a scholarship recipient for the John L. Magro Foundation in Cincinnati.
Besides solo experiences, Dr. Xia has abundant collaborative and accompanying skills. During her graduate assistantship in the doctoral program, she accompanied for more than 40 recitals and concerts with instrumentalists and vocalists, including distinguished musicians, professors, and guest artists from renowned symphony and universities. She has performed in recitals with horn players from Chicago Symphony Orchestra, trumpeters from Canadian Brass, tuba professor from Arizona State University, horn professors from Peabody Conservatory and University of Illinois. Dr. Xia has played in master classes with world-renowned artists such as the Swedish clarinetist Martin Frost, American singer Deborah Voigt and British Lieder Graham Johnson. In addition, Dr. Xia performs with composer friends. She performed composer Xian Wang’s piano work titled “the Sound from My Memory” which was featured in the Midwest Composers Symposium at the University of Michigan.
Born in China, mainland, Dr. Xia began studying the piano at the age of 5. Before coming to the United States, she obtained a bachelor’s degree in piano performance at Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
Dr. Xia gained teaching experience during her college years. She taught students at various age groups. The students she taught were at different level; early beginners, intermediate and advanced beginners. She has helped many children pass piano grade exams and helped adults to learn the music they enjoyed. Dr. Xia hopes to share the joy of piano with new students and friends in the future.
Ms. Emilie Flores
Violinist and Pianist, Ms. Emilie Rose Flores was born in Takoma Park, Maryland and began her violin studies at the age of seven under the tutelage of the legendary master, Korean teacher and performer Mr. Ang. Ms. Flores was selected as the concert mistress to perform chamber music and solo concerto performances at the College Park Youth Orchestra. While finishing high school, Ms. Flores was accepted into the New England Youth Ensemble (NEYE) of Washington Adventist University as the first violinist. As an avid pianist and violinist, Ms. Flores has toured with NEYE throughout the world performing a myriad of concerts from New York to Australia. Though her performances overseas and throughout the United States have included recordings, solos with orchestras and chamber music concerts. Her recital programs invariably include shorter works, of which she is so fond, as well as the larger masterpieces. Ms. Flores is a Carnegie Scholar and has performed with several recording artists such Pentatonix’s MR Kevin Oulusola, Beatriz Taylor, and others. Ms. Flores is pursuing a Bachelor Degree in Music Education and Performance from Washington Adventist University, is an active piano and violin teacher and in addition to teaching, Ms. Flores enjoys performing as a free-lance musician in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area.
Ms. Katelyn McClinton
Violinist, Ms. Katelyn McClinton has always held an interest in music from a young age. Her parents, both musicians themselves, introduced her to classical music as she grew up. At the age of 9, she began taking violin classes through her school. A year later, she began lessons with Karen Lauffer and studied with her for 4 years.
In her high school years, Ms. McClinton then studied with Dr. Courtney Orlando, who was her primary teacher until high school graduation. Towards the end of her high school career, decided that she would continue her music education through college. In the fall of 2011, Ms. McClinton attended The Sunderman Conservatory at Gettysburg College, studying with Dr. Yeon-Su Kim. Throughout her 4 years at Gettysburg, Katelyn participated and performed in groups like the Gettysburg College Symphony Orchestra, Metta Ensemble, and Sunderman Strings, which included a performance in New York City.
Thanks to the years spent at college, Ms. McClinton has a major interest in chamber music and hopes to continue performing chamber music in her career. She has attended music festivals throughout numerous summers, including the International Music Institute and Festival in Maryland and the InterHarmony Music Festival in Tuscany, Italy. Ms. McClinton has a Bachelor’s in Music Performance from the Sunderman Conservatory at Gettysburg College and a Master’s of Music Performance from Towson University. She has also studied with the late John Eaken, Grammy-nominated violinist and former concertmaster of the York Symphony.
Ms. McClinton is currently a private violin instructor in the Maryland and York, PA area, giving violin lessons to beginning, intermediate and advanced students. She has been teaching for over 6 years and works with each student to find their own unique path in music. Ms. McClinton has also performed with the West Shore Symphony Orchestra in the Central PA area and is currently a member of the Hanover Symphony Orchestra. In 2018, Ms. McClinton joined the Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra. She is the founder of Stravaganza Piano Trio. In 2021, Katelyn began working on her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Shenandoah University and Conservatory. She plans to continue studying and performing works of black composers, as well as learning other methods of teaching and playing contemporary music.
When not performing music, Ms. McClinton enjoys diving into other creative outlets by writing stories as well as doing makeup.
Ms. Yun-Ting Kuo
Ms. Yun-Ting Kuo began studying the piano at the age of 5 and the violin at 8 in Taiwan. After a year, she began playing the viola. During her studies, Ms. Kuo majored in viola performance and minored in piano performance. She is currently pursuing a Graduate Performance Diploma in viola performance at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, studying with Ms. Victoria Chiang and Mr. Choong-Jin Chang. She received her Master of Music with full scholarship at the Peabody Institute and a joint Bachelor degree from Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore and the Peabody Institute.
Ms. Kuo was invited to Shanghai Orchestra Academy to perform in the 5th anniversary concert with Franck Huang, the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic. She has attended multiple music festivals, which includes the Korean National Symphony Orchestra Academy and the Aspen Music Festival with fellowship in 2018 and 2019. From 2013 to 2015, she joined the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra’s International Youth Orchestra under the baton of Cho-Liang Lin and was selected to perform in the faculty concert. She also participated in the Formosa Chamber Music Festival in 2014.
Ms. Kuo has won numerous prizes in the National Taiwan Music Competition in viola and chamber music. She is passionate about teaching as well and has been teaching piano, violin, and viola for over 10 years in Taiwan and Silicon Valley. She has accompanied students and friends in concerts and auditions as a pianist and has helped them achieve their goals.
As an active orchestral violist, Ms. Kuo is the violist of the York Symphony Orchestra. She has played with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, and served as the principal violist in Aspen Conducting Academy. She is also the substitute violist of the New World Symphony. She has played in the masterclasses of Gábor Takács-Nagy, Jonathan Vinocour, Hsin-Yun Huang, Stephen Wyrczynski, Ken Hakii, Scott Lee, Che-Yen Chen, and Endellion Quartet.
Mr. Bentley Corbett-Wilson
Mr. Bentley Corbett-Wilson
Mr. Bentley Corbett-Wilson was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. During his time in Nevada, Bentley played trumpet with the Las Vegas Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, which toured China in 2011. In 2012, he made his Carnegie Hall debut after being selected to perform with the Honors Performance Series Orchestra. Upon graduating high school, he moved to Maryland to attend UMBC as a Music Education student.
During his tenure at UMBC, Bentley found himself not only developing his artistry as a musician and music educator, but his capabilities as a leader. Bentley played trumpet with the UMBC Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble, and had the opportunity to perform alongside a number of highly recognized musicians and chamber groups such as: the Canadian Brass, the American Brass Quintet, Brad Ellis, Oystein Baadsvik, Joe Burgstaller, Hiram Diaz and other members of “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band. Bentley was also a part of the recording ensemble for the upcoming album being released by the UMBC Wind Ensemble, which featured newly premiered pieces such as “Chiaroscuro II” by Anna Rubin and “McGuffy’s Reeder” by Brad Ellis. Bentley was also notably the President of the Student Government Association.
Bentley also performed staple repertoire of brass chamber music with the UMBC Brass Quintet for multiple years, and spent some time spent with the UMBC Pep Band and Jazz Ensemble as well. As a music educator, Bentley had the privilege of working with talented students in the Baltimore area through the El Sistema driven Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s OrchKids Program, as well as with various other schools in the state. Through his teachings, he recognized the power that music has to not only make someone a great musician, but its potential to create empathetic leaders who bring about positive change in their communities.
After graduating, Bentley spent two years traveling across the country as a Leadership Consultant, advising college students on effective leadership practices and organizational development. Bentley then returned to UMBC receive a Master of Arts in Teaching. During these years, he had the incredible opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall once again through the Honors Performance Series, and later in Schladming, Austria, with the World Adult Wind Orchestra Project. Bentley is now a band teacher with Howard County Public Schools, where he teaches instruction for all wind instruments.
Dr. Ji Eun Kim
Soprano Ji Eun Kim was born and grew up in Seoul, South Korea. She earned her Bachelors Degree in Voice from Yonsei University in Korea. In the United States she received her Masters Degree in Voice from the Peabody Conservatory studying with Prof. Phyllis Bryn-Julson, and an Artist Diploma in Voice and Opera from the Cleveland Institute of Music studying with Dr. Mary Schiller. Recently, she received her Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice and Opera from Boston University studying with Penelope Bitzas. Now, she has relocated to Gaithersburg in Maryland and is teaching, conducting and singing for the choir at Korean Presbyterian Church of Baltimore.
Dr. Kim has performed numerous roles in opera productions of the Boston University Opera Institute including Violetta (La traviata, act 3), Lidoine (Dialogues of the Carmelites), Miss Wingrave (Owen Wingrave), Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito), Eliza (Dark sisters), and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni). Also, she performed Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos and Beatrice in Beatrice et Benedict while at Cleveland, and Countess in Le nozze di Figaro and First Lady in Magic Flute while completing her Masters Degree. For concert work she performed the whole work of Handel’s Messiah and Haydn’s The Creation in the Yonsei Concert Choir and was the soprano soloist of Handel’s Dixit Dominus, HWV 232 with Neponset Choral Society. Recently, she made her debut at Boston Symphony Hall as a soprano soloist of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony conducted by Ken-David Masur. In the summer of 2015, she was a featured artist at Opera Theater of Pittsburgh and performed the role of the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro.Dr. Kim was a first prizewinner in both the local Metrowest Opera Competition and the Piccola Opera Competition in New Hampshire; 4th prize winner of the Bel Canto Competition and received the encouragement award from the NEMPAC competition in Boston. Dr. Kim has received several accolades for her opera performances. Among them includes the fall 2012 performance of Violetta in the third act of La traviata at the Fringe Festival with the Boston University Opera Institute. “Kim’s initially delicate singing accurately depicted Violetta’s physical and mental frailty, but she revealed a clean, well-tempered sound in her passionate duet with Alfredo.” “Ji Eun Kim used her gleaming soprano to penetrating effect as Composer” in Ariadne auf Naxos, and “Ji Eun Kim brought warm charisma to the opera’s subversive protagonist, Eliza, and shaped a strong, resolute persona with minimal resources” in Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters.
Mr. Jonah Kappraff
Jonah Kappraff is a trumpet performer and teacher new to the Baltimore area. Having trained at the Oberlin Conservatory (B.M. performance/education) and Boston University (M.M. performance) he spent a decade freelancing in Boston before relocating to central Pennsylvania in 2015. In Boston, Jonah was a regular member of the Lexington Symphony, the Marsh Chapel Collegium Musicum, and the avant-garde Boston Modern Brass Quintet, and performed frequently with the Boston Ballet, the Boston Pops, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and Odyssey Opera. He also maintained a robust teaching studio, mentoring students who frequently competed in state and national competitions.
In Pennsylvania, Jonah performed with the Williamsport Symphony, York Symphony, Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra, and the Penn’s Woods Music Festival. Additionally, he was featured as a guest soloist with the Penn Central Wind Band in 2017 and in performances of the J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto no. 2 with the Allegretto Chamber Orchestra of Lancaster and the Nantucket Baroque Festival. Jonah has played principal trumpet with the Boston-based Ambient Orchestra (dir. Evan Ziporyn) since 2016, a group with whom he has toured nationally and internationally.
As a recitalist and clinician, Jonah has presented solo recitals and masterclasses at Keene State College, MIT, Harvard University, Bucknell University, and Lycoming College. His primary teachers have been Terry Everson, Steve Emery, and Roy Poper.
Ms. Jinhee Lim
Born and raised in South Korea, Ms. Jinhee Lim started playing piano at an early age of five. Graduating from Kyung Hee University of Seoul with a Bachelor of Music, Ms. Lim continued her piano studies in Europe. She received her Master of Music from Staatliche Hochschule fur Musik Stuttgart, Germany. She also received her Cycle de Specialization of Piano in Conservatoire de Strasbourg, France. She then moved to the United States to obtain her Master’s Degree in Christian Counseling from Washington University of Virginia. Ms. Lim is currently pursuing her Doctors Degree at George Mason University under the study of Dr. Linda Monson.
Ms. Lim has performed and taught in various countries around the world such as South Korea, Germany, France, Italy, and United States. In 2013, Ms. Lim presented many performances in France, one of which she performed with the Concert Choir, Frattola, in Anduze France. Many of her awards include Third Prize in the 20th International Competition per Giobani Musiciti in Barletta Italy 2011, Frist Prize in the International Concours de piano de Brest in Brest France 2012, Second Prize in the International Concours Musical de France in Paris France 2012, and Third Prize in the Baltimore International Festival Competition in Baltimore 2017.
With a passion for piano teaching, Ms. Lim enjoys working with students of all ages of all levels. She is also very fluent in many languages such as Korean, French, German, and English.