Alicia Hui, currently Principal Second Violin of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, began her musical studies at the age of four and made her orchestral debut at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore, Maryland at age nine. Since then, she has soloed with numerous orchestras including the Arlington Symphony, Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra, the Edmonton Symphony, the Firelands Symphony Orchestra, the Nationals Repertory Orchestra, the Zurich Symphony Orchestra, the Latvian Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra.  

Ms. Hui was accepted into the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia at age 11 where she studies with Victor Danchenko and received her Bachelor’s Degree at sixteen. She received her Master’s Degree, Artist Diploma, and Professional Studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music under the tutelage of David Cerone, Paul Kantor, and William Preucil. In addition to her current position, Ms. Hui is also a member of the Columbus Ohio Discovery Ensemble and a regular performer and Development Director of the Vivo Music Festival.

Liam Battle is a cellist in search of spirituality and liberation through performance and ritual. The music he specializes in concerns a wide range of American and Western styles from the mid-century Avant-Garde to new experimental music and free improvisation. He regularly performs in settings that straddle the improvisation, classical, and experimental worlds and he hopes to blur the lines that create such distinctions.

The common thread in all of Liam’s work is a commitment to newness. As a founder of the Antigone Music Collective, he regularly curates and performs contemporary classical music. The ensemble was noted for “Their technical mastery, rich tone, and fluid character…” by Cleveland Classical. Always on the cutting edge of performance and technology, they have also been hailed for their unique integration of mixed media into performance: “the pedal stomping to turn digital pages was distracting.”

Bringing new works into the world is a major part of the work Liam does with the AMC and outside of it. Liam has been the commissioner or dedicatee of dozens of works by composers including Brian Raphael Nabors, Gregory Rowland Evans, Kevin Kay, and Emma Tucker. He has also collaborated with a wide variety of today’s leading classical composers including Joan Tower, Marilyn Shrude, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, and Juri Seo. Classical concertizing has brought Liam in front of orchestras performing the concerti of Qigang Chen and Iannis Xenakis. Liam holds a BM from the University of Cincinnati and is pursuing an MM at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Jesse Schartz brings a wealth of experience to share with his students as The Ohio State University bassoon professor. Prior to this appointment, Schartz served two decades in the U.S. Air Force Bands as principal bassoon of concert band and music director of chamber ensembles. He has toured extensively in the USA, and has performed in over 20 countries across Europe and the Middle East. Schartz is currently principal bassoon with the Central Ohio Symphony, and has performed with a variety of ensembles to include the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Virginia Musical Theatre, Opera Columbus, Broadway in Columbus, and the Columbus Symphony. Schartz inspires a team atmosphere in his studio and encourages his students to explore their creativity and say “yes” to unexpected opportunities!

Abby Yeakle Held, DMA, serves as assistant teaching professor of oboe at The Ohio State University, where she was appointed in 2021. Her duties include teaching applied oboe, studio, reed-making, and coaching chamber music. Prior to joining the music faculty at Ohio State, Dr. Held served as adjunct professor of oboe at Stephen F. Austin State University (Nacogdoches, TX) and adjunct professor of music at Lone Star College (Houston, TX).

Recognized as both a Fulbright Scholar and a recipient of the Presser Foundation Award, Abby Yeakle Held is distinguished in her field as an academic. Her Fulbright research surrounded the Viennese oboe — its history, tradition, current status, and cross-application to the modern French conservatory oboist. Her article titled “The Viennese Oboe and its Classical/Romantic Traditions” is published in the International Double Reed Society’s Double Reed journal, and is the first resource dedicated to the instrument in English. As one of the foremost scholars of the Viennese oboe outside of the instrument’s native community, Held is sought after for master classes and lecture recitals as a guest artist at universities across the country. She was invited to present a Viennese oboe lecture recital at the International Double Reed Society’s 50th Anniversary Conference (2021).

Held serves as associate principal oboe of the Midland-Odessa Symphony. She has performed internationally in Austria and Belgium, including appearing as principal oboe with the Brunner VielHarmonie (Brunn am Gibirge, Austria) and presenting a recital at the United States Embassy in Vienna, Austria. She has performed with orchestras across the nation including the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Cheyenne Symphony, Wyoming Symphony and Lafayette Symphony, as well as the Castleton Festival Orchestra under the baton of the late Maestro Lorin Maazel. Held’s varied career as a performer has also allowed her the opportunity to perform at the iconic Red Rocks outdoor amphitheater with DeVotchKa, a popular Indie Rock band based out of Denver, Colorado.

As a passionate oboe pedagogue, Held gives frequent master classes at middle and high schools. She has been an appointed reviewer for Texas’ UIL Prescribed Music List for Mixed Woodwind Trio, adding over 40 works to the list. Additionally, she is one of the co-creators of the Double Reed chamber music category. She has taught for Bocal Majority and Operation O.B.O.E. Camps as a premier instructor since 2017, and also serves as the oboe expert for the Phantom Regiment Academy’s “Expert Lesson Series.”

Abby Yeakle Held plays a model 2001 Marigaux oboe as well as a Rado Viennese oboe that was made for her personally by Karl Radovanovich in Vienna, Austria. Her principal teachers include Professor Harald Hörth, Dr. Mark Ostoich, Peter Cooper, Dr. Doris DeLoach, and Emily Brebach.

Together with her husband James, she enjoys traveling, game nights with friends, and improving her German language skills.

Ella Pittsford is a violinist and string pedagogue based in Columbus, Ohio. She holds a Bachelor of Music in violin performance from Illinois Wesleyan University and received her Master of Arts in string pedagogy from The Ohio State University under the tutelage of Drs. Robert Gillespie and Kia-Hui Tan. She currently runs a flourishing private studio, is Principal Second Violin of the Worthington Chamber Orchestra, performs regularly with many other Central Ohio orchestras and musical organizations, and is President of the Youth Philharmonic of Central Ohio.

During her career, Ella has been coached by Sibbi Bernhardsson, Matsumi Rostad, Brant Taylor of the Chicago Symphony, the Avalon String Quartet, and has participated in masterclasses with Midori and Roland Vamos. She has been fortunate enough to perform alongside such musical talents as Itzhak Perlman, Midori Goto, Charlie Vernon, and The Piano Guys. She has also toured abroad in Spain, Bulgaria, Germany, Austria, Czechia, and El Salvador.

Owing in part to her Salvadoran roots, Ella is a strong advocate for the dissemination of Latin American classical music, which she has researched extensively. Marrying her passion for education with her love of her cultural heritage, she champions the importance and benefits of incorporating Latin American music into the Western pedagogical framework.