She has conducted many world premieres and has collaborated with French composers such as Philippe Leroux, François Paris, and Thierry Blondeau.

In the United States, Hélène Bouchez conducted the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, Kennedy-Center, NCI program held by Leonard Slatkin). Winner of the Boston Symphony Orchestra competition, she was invited in 2004 for a two months residency at Tanglewood where she conducted the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in many concerts. She also shared live broadcast concert with Kurt Masur. Previously, she was invited by Marin Alsop to premiere new music at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.

In Europe, she worked with Pierre Boulez at the Lucerne Festival and conducted his Notations among others.

Hélène Bouchez graduated conducting at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris (with unanimous highest distinction) and also graduated piano at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon (with unanimous highest distinction). She is currently a professor in this institution. Hélène also graduated with a degree in literature and received a Masters degree in musicology from Paris Sorbonne University.

Hélène performs as a pianist or soloist in a variety of chamber music concerts.

This past September, David won 1st Prize at the Eduardo Mata International Conducting Competition held in Mexico City, Mexico. This leads to numerous guest conducting engagements in Europe and South America.

David attended the Tanglewood Music Center as a conducting fellow in 1999. It was followed by conducting studies under Larry Rachleff at the prestigious Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. After a year of conducting fellowship at the New World Symphony, David was chosen as the Karajan Fellow in 2003 at the renowned Salzburg Festival where he worked with the Vienna Philharmonic. The same year, Leonard Slatkin chose David to participate in the National Conducting Institute where he debuted with the National Symphony at the John F. Kennedy Center.

David has previously served as the Resident Conductor of the San Antonio Symphony from 2004-2007.

David earned his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in piano performance at the Oberlin Conservatory and the Peabody Institute, respectively. He received his second Master of Music Degree in conducting at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.

Born in England, Andrew Constantine’s initial studies were with John Carewe (teacher of Sir Simon Rattle), Normal Del Mar, and Leonard Bernstein. To further his studies, he entered the class of Ilya Musin at the Leningrad State Conservatoire on a British Council Scholarship. His London debut soon followed at the Royal Festival Hall with the London Philharmonic. In 1993, he spent a year as assistant conductor to Giuseppe Sinopoli, working at the Stats Oper in Munich, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Taormina Festival in Sicily.

Andrew Constantine regularly conducts many of the UK’s leading symphony orchestras and has established a strong rapport with the Philharmonia Orchestra and also the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also a regular visitor to many European festivals including the Prague Spring Festival.

He records for a variety of labels and was recently invited to make his first recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Grams made his first subscription series appearance with the Cleveland Orchestra in May, 2006. As guest conductor, he has made subscription concert appearances with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and has also worked with the Saint Louis, Indianapolis, Fort Worth, and the Phoenix Symphony Orchestras. Grams makes his Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra debuts this season.

He was selected to spend the summer of 2003 studying with David Zinman, Murry Sidlin, and Michael Stern at the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival, and returned to that program in 2004.

Andrew Grams began conducting at the age of 17 when he directed the World Youth Symphony at Interlochen. In 1999 he received a bachelor of music degree in violin performance from the Juilliard School. In 2003, he received a conducting degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he worked with Otto-Werner Mueller. Also an accomplished violinist, Mr. Grams was a member of the New York City Ballet Orchestra at Lincoln Center from 1998 to 2004. In addition, he has performed with ensembles including the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s.

Daniel Meyer was awarded the 2002 Aspen Conducing Prize after his second season as a fellowship Academy Conductor at the Aspen Music Festival. His residency there culminated in a performance at the Blossom Festival, where he made his debut conducting the Cleveland Orchestra. In 2003 he served as assistant conductor to David Zinman and returned the following summer to lead a subscription performance. He has also conducted the Utah, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Syracuse symphonies.

He is a graduate of Denison University and the University of Cincinnati College – Conservatory of Music. As a doctoral student at Boston University, he received the Orchestral Conducting Honors Award. He also studied conducting at the Hochschule fur Musik in Vienna as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.

An alumnus of the National Conducting Institute, Mr. Muñoz made his professional conducting debut in 2006 with the National Symphony Orchestra. That same year, he made his Cleveland Orchestra debut at the Blossom Music Festival at the invitation of David Zinman. The 2006-2007 season included his critically acclaimed subscription debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, stepping in for an ailing Krzysztof Penderecki. Other recent engagements include appearances with the Cincinnati Pops, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

In the 2008-2009 season Mr. Muñoz will appear with the Eugene Symphony, Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre symphonique et lyrique de Nancy. Additionally, he will make his operatic debut with the Opéra National de Lorraine in performances of Caballero's Los sobrinos del Capitán Grant.

The 2007-2008 season included performances with The Cleveland Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. He also conducted the Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra, the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra (for the 11th Annual Sphinx Competition), the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, and a joint orchestra of students from the Sibelius Academy and the Colburn School Conservatory of Music (as part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's International Youth Orchestra Festival). Abroad, he made his European debuts with the Orchestre Lyrique de Région Avignon-Provence and Ensemble '05 at Italy's Ritratti 2008 festival.

During the summers of 2004 through 2006, Mr. Muñoz attended the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen where he studied with David Zinman and Murry Sidlin and participated in master classes with Asher Fisch, Leon Fleisher, George Manahan, David Robertson, and Leonard Slatkin. He is the winner of the Aspen Music Festival's 2005 Robert J. Harth Conductor Prize and the 2006 Aspen Conducting Prize, and in summer 2007, he returned to Aspen as the festival's Assistant Conductor.

Also an accomplished violinist, Mr. Muñoz has performed in many of New York's leading ensembles including the New York Virtuosi, Ensemble Sospeso, and Orchestra of St. Luke's, as well as numerous Broadway shows. As a studio musician he has recorded for Albany Records, RCA Victor and Sony.

A native of New York City, Mr. Muñoz began his musical training on the violin at age thirteen in the Juilliard School's Music Advancement Program, continuing studies on violin and composition at the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division. He attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, and was a member of the InterSchool Orchestras of New York and New York Youth Symphony, where he later served as Apprentice Conductor. He furthered his training at the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College, as a violin student of Daniel Phillips.

For more information about Mr. Muñoz, please visit http://www.titomunoz.com.

In 2002-2003 Mr. Rachev was the first ever conducting fellow of the New World Symphony in Miami, FL, where he studied with Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas.

Mr. Rachev's recent positions also include cover conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and assistant conductor for the Baltimore Opera Company. In his native Bulgaria Mr. Rachev worked with several ensembles including the Russe State Opera.

During the summer of 2002, Mr. Rachev was simultaneously chosen to be an Academy Conductor for the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival and one of four participants in the National Conducting Institute in Washington, D.C., which culminated in his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra.

Originally trained at the State Musical Academy in Sofia, where he received degrees in orchestral and choral conducting, Mr. Rachev came to the United States for studies at Peabody Conservatory on full scholarship, graduating in 2001 with the Master of Music in orchestral conducting. His principle conducting teachers have included Gustav Meier, Michael Tilson Thomas, David Zinman, and Leonard Slatkin.

During the 2007-08 season, Vajda appears with the Montreal and the Oregon Symphony in addition to concerts with the Charlotte Symphony and Santa Rosa Symphony. Overseas, he conducts the Budapest Concert Orchestra.

In previous seasons, he has conducted for the Charlotte Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, the Louisville and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Vajda has also appeared with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and conducted the Mostly Mozart Festival in Lincoln Center.

In addition to conducting, Vajda is also a clarinetist and composer. Recently, he conducted his own composition for the silent film The Crowd at the Auditorium of the Louvre, with American pianist Jay Gottlieb. He has also recorded his piece Duevoe with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. He was honored with the Zoltán Kodály State Scholarship for composers for the year 2000, and the Annie Fischer State Scholarship for music performers in the year 1999.

Born in Budapest, Hungary, he studied conducting at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music.

Having gained a reputation in Europe and the UK as a conductor of great skill, charisma, energy and versatility, Andrew Constantine moved to the US in 2004 to become Assistant Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Within his first season there he was promoted to Associate Conductor. In the US he has won great praise for his ability to communicate with audiences and his energetic and compelling advocacy for classical music have gained him many admirers.

In May of 2007, following a two year search and a pool of over 280 applicants, he was appointed Music Director of the Reading Symphony Orchestra in Pennsylvania. After winning the first Donatella Flick/Accademia Italiana Conducting Competition, Andrew Constantine made his Royal Festival Hall debut with the London Philharmonic. Press reviews were unanimous in their praise: “Definiteness of intention is a great thing, and Constantine’s shaping of the music was never short of it” was the Financial Times’ view, whilst The Independent wrote, “Andrew Constantine showed a capacity RFH audience just what he is made of, ending his big demanding programme with an electrifying performance of Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5.” Described by Classic FM (the UK’s largest radio station) as “a Rising Star of Classical Music” Andrew Constantine is regularly engaged by the UK’s leading symphony orchestras including The Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra, and by many others throughout Europe. He was recently awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Music by the University of Leicester, for this “contribution to music”, and also a prestigious British NESTA Fellowship to further develop his international career.

Thachuk has conducted orchestras and opera in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland, Italy, Portugal, the United States and Canada. He made his European debut conducting Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Hradec Kralove Philharmonic in the Czech Republic. His professional debut in Canada took place at the Orchestra Canada convention when he was selected for the Young Conductor’s Showcase, leading the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. From 2000–02 he was the Opera Conductor for Miami University (Ohio), and from 1995–98 he held the position of music director for the Brampton Symphony Orchestra in Ontario.

In 2005, Thachuk was selected from an international field by legendary violinist/conductor Pinchas Zukerman and world-renowned conducting teacher Jorma Panula, to make his debut with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Canada as part of a young conductor showcase concert. Other recent awards include being named the 2000 recipient of the ¬David Effron Conducting Fellowship at the Chautauqua Festival in New York.

A conductor with varied interests, Thachuk has been involved in numerous projects. An advocate of contemporary music he has led many world premieres and U.S. premieres of works by composers including John Estacio, Ronald Royer, Doug Opel, Arcangel Castillo Olivari and Robert Baker, in addition to being co-founder and conductor of the contemporary music group, the Cygnus Ensemble in Canada. As an active opera conductor, he made his U.S. operatic debut in 1997 conducting Puccini’s ¬Gianni Schicchi. The same year he made his European operatic debut, conducting Don Giovanni at the Teatro del Giglio in Lucca, Italy, where he held the position of staff conductor for two years with the Opera Theatre of Lucca. He has also toured as the conductor for the Australian rock group Air Supply and conducted the soundtrack for the film The Eternal Husband.

Thachuk received his masters degree and began doctoral studies in conducting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with Mark Gibson and ¬Christopher Zimmerman. He continues his studies now privately with conductor Paavo Järvi, music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Born in Toronto, he began his musical studies at the age of 5 on the classical guitar. Following further studies in guitar, french horn and piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Thachuk received a bachelor of music performance in guitar from the University of Toronto.

A distinguished graduate of the DePauw University School of Music, Maestro Nance earned a Bachelor of Music degree in keyboard performance, and graduated magna cum laude. He subsequently earned a Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting from the Peabody Conservatory of Music.

Nance currently serves as the Artistic Director of the Heartland Chamber Chorale, the Director of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Chorus, Director of Music for Plymouth Congregational Church, Director of Choirs at University of Saint Francis, and the Professional Choir Director/Organist of Temple Achduth Vesholom. He particularly enjoys his work as a private music teacher; an instructor and clinician for area schools, colleges, and universities; and composing and performing regularly as a keyboardist.

He has received many honors and awards, including guest conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and a recipient of the Indiana Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship. Nance considers himself a lifetime student of music, honored to have regular advice and council from artists such as Robert Page, Glynn Page, Albert McNeil, Vance George, Alice Parker, Craig Jessop, Jerry Rubino, Carver Cossey, Nancy Menk, and Stephen Paulus.

As the founding director of the Heartland Chamber Chorale, a paid professional chorus, Nance has cultivated and shaped singers to represent the best of choral music in the Northeast Indiana region. With an eye to the future, Maestro Nance and the HCC promote and nurture choral music and musicians through workshops, artist residencies and the Side-by-Side program which provides professional level experience for exceptional high school choristers.

Maestro Nance is a published composer. His most recent work, “Let Us Remember” is a setting of an original poem about the Holocaust written by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Charlie Savage. Commissioned by the Fort Wayne Jewish Federation, this work received its premiere in Fort Wayne during Yom Hashoah on April 15, 2008 to great acclaim.

For fun and leisure, Maestro Nance enjoys various outdoor activities and athletics, enjoys visiting islands all over the world, and is an accomplished photographer. He was born in Rock Hill, South Carolina and later raised in Williamsburg, Virginia. He spent several summers as a camper, and later as a camp counselor, at the National Music Camp at Interlochen (Michigan). While there, he won a full tuition scholarship to DePauw University School of Music.