Margaret Jane Wray is an award winning American dramatic soprano known for her interpretations of the works of Richard Wagner.

Wray began her career as a member of the Metropolitan Opera's Young Artist program in the mid to late 1980s.. She made her debut with the company in 1987 as Annina in Verdi's La Traviata.^[1] Wray was quickly identified as one of the most talented young artists in the field and success soon followed. In 1989, Wray was awarded the prestigious Richard Tucker Award. Wray went on to appear in lead roles with many of the world's leading opera companies including the Metropolitan Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Seattle Opera, La Scala, the Bavarian State Opera, the Berlin State Opera, Opéra National de Paris, La Monnaie, L’Opéra de la Bastille, Oper Frankfurt, Teatro Regio (Turin), Théâtre du Capitole, Teatro Massimo Bellini, Opéra de Nice, and Welsh National Opera among others.^[2] Wray has also had a prolific career as a concert artist appearing with many of the world's finest conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Mariss Jansons, Seiji Ozawa, Kwun Chung and James Conlon.^[3] She has also performed with many of the world's great orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony and National Symphony Orchestra among others.

For a second year in a row, Margaret will be serving on the St.Croix Valley Foundation Music Education Grant Panel, as well as adjudicating for the 2018 Metropolitan Opera Auditions in Minneapolis, MN and in Tulsa, OK. 

Gideon Scheeler is a 14 yr. old 8th grader from St. Paul, MN.  He attends Christ's Household of Faith School and studies piano with Elena Piastro at the St. Paul Conservatory of Music.  He has participated in and won many 1st place awards with MN Music Teachers Assoc., St. Paul Piano Teachers Assoc., Upper Midwest Music Festival, Piano Fun MN, UWRF Piano Festival, Northwestern Piano Festival, Winner of the 2012 North Star Piano Concerto Competition, and Grand Champion of the 2013 MN State Fair Amateur Talent Competition Preteen Division.  He took 2nd place in the 2014 American Protege International Piano Competition and was honored with the opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall.  He was a finalist in 2017 and 1st place winner of the 2018 Schubert Club Scholarship Competition.  Gideon has participated in master classes (including the 2017 E-piano junior festival) and collaborated as a soloist with local high school, college, and community orchestra/ensembles.  He enjoys accompanying groups and soloists in his school, church, and community.

James Dutton studied at the Royal College of Music in London, winning prizes for orchestral, solo and chamber music performances. He has also been awarded two Worshipful Company of Musicians' Silver Medals and a Fellowship in Flute Performance from Trinity College London.

As a Park Lane Group Young Artist, he gave a recital at the Purcell Room which included the world premiere of "The Colour of Pomegranates” for alto flute and piano, written for him by the leading British composer Julian Anderson.

Since 1997 he has been principal flute of the Band of the Scots Guards in London. He has appeared with them as a soloist many times including concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and Cadogan Hall in London, many European cities and tours across Australia and South Korea.

Over the last twenty years he has appeared in numerous recitals, performing everything from classic works to contemporary repertoire. He also appears on many recordings both with his own band and as a guest performer, and has given live radio and TV broadcasts. In December 2016 he first visited Minneapolis and gave a series of recitals and solo performances, and he is delighted to be returning. He has also recently been invited to perform for both the British Flute Society and the Norwegian Flute Festival. In November 2017 he appeared in recital together with Tom Ottar Andreassen, co-principal flute of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. February 2018 saw the release of his debut album “Idyll” with Oliver Davies on the MPR label. Later this year James will be retiring from his position at the Scots Guards Band and moving to Oslo in Norway to join his wife and daughter, and concentrating on a career as a recitalist and teacher.

www.jamesduttonflute.com

Hannah Scheele graduated from UW-River Falls with a Bachelor of Science in Music Business and an emphasis on the lever harp. She studied under Eleanor Neimisto and Jann Stein. Hannah has been classically trained but loves to study and play folk music; she currently plays solo gigs, teaches, performs house concerts, and has become a part of the violin/harp duo, Mapleback Strings. In her spare time Hannah likes to read, cook and bake, spend time with loved ones, and be outside.

Kristin Tjornehoj is the Director of Bands at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls where she conducts the UWRF Symphony Band, St. Croix Valley Community Band and the St. Croix Valley Symphony Orchestra.  Dr. Tjornehoj founded the Three Rivers Concert Band, a group of adult musicians from Minnesota and Wisconsin, who collaborate and participate in international outreach tours.   She co-founded the Composers Conference at UWRF that brings chamber music composers together for a 3-day workshop with concerts and seminars.  Dr. Tjornehoj has taught courses in wind conducting, history and literature.

An active guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator, Dr. Tjornehoj has served in these capacities throughout the United States and Canada, and in China, The Czech Republic, England, France, Iceland, Scotland and Spain. She has led performance tours throughout the United States and abroad. Recent experiences include bi-annual World Music and Music Appreciation study tours in Scotland, England and France, plus the Three Rivers Concert tour of Spain in 2014.  Dr. Tjornehoj has served on the Shell Lake Arts Center faculty for over 15 years where she is the director of the Concert Band Camp.

Dedicated to the creation of new compositions, her credits of commissioned works or premiers by prolific composers include Joel Blahnick, Todd Coleman, Michael Colgrass, Gregory Fritze, Lars Jansson, Daniel Kallman, Johan de Meij, Joanne Metcalf, Craig Naylor, David Revill, Michael J. Roy, Jared Spears, Jack Stamp, Michael Torke, Joseph Turrin, Charles Young and John Zdechlick.

A participating member in several professional scholarly and community organizations, she currently serves on boards/committees of ArtReach St. Croix, Phipps Center for the Arts, St. Croix Valley Community Foundation in addition to the Wisconsin and Minnesota Music Educators Conferences. She is also a member of the League of American Orchestras, National Association for Music Education, National Band Association and the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles.  Dr. Tjornehoj is active in church music as a saxophone player, pianist and choir director.