Faculty
Violin
Viola
Cello
Half-Day Program
Collaborative Pianists
Hailed as a “marvelous violinist” (France Musique) with “sensitive tone” (Pizzicato Magazine) and “tremendous ease, suppleness and beauty of sound” (Nice-Matin), violinist Ambroise Aubrun has performed extensively in Europe and North America and has shared the stage with Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Scott St. John, Martin Chalifour, Clive Greensmith, Richard O’Neill, the Borromeo and Ebène string quartets among others.
His albums for the Editions Hortus and Navona Records have embraced a wide range of repertoire from Bach to Tanguy (b.1968) and received praise of the highest caliber (5 stars Pizzicato Journal, “coup de coeur” France Musique, and a nomination for the 2021 International Classical Music Awards).
Aubrun’s performances and albums have been broadcast on CBS, WFMT, France Musique, Klara Radio (Belgium), KPFK, WTUL New-Orleans and K-USC Los Angeles.
He has served as guest concertmaster of the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, the Las Vegas Philharmonic and the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico, and is a regular guest of the Los Angeles Philharmonic violin sections.
Aubrun studied at the Paris National Superior Conservatory, UCLA and the Colburn Conservatory of Music. He is the winner of the Charles Oulmont Prize of the Fondation de France and laureate of the Langart Foundation in Switzerland.
Currently Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Aubrun has served on the faculty of UCLA and UC Santa Barbara as well as of several academies, and is regularly invited to give masterclasses around the world. He is the artistic director of the Bruman Chamber Music Festival at UCLA.
Aubrun plays a Matteo Goffriller violin, on loan from the Langart Foundation.
Hailed as “truly communicative” (New York Times) and an “impeccable and powerful soloist” (Neue Musikzeitung), Franco-American violinist Elissa Cassini captivates audiences worldwide through her expressive tone and engaging presence. Her innovative programs such as those created through her Duplexity Concerts organization have been praised as “an imaginatively conceived recital” (Strad Magazine).
Elissa’s most recent solo project Résonances inter-relates works by J.S. Bach, Kaija Saariaho and Missy Mazzoli, combined with visuals, electronics, improvisation and staging to create an immersive musical narrative; and was premiered in March 2023 at the Collégiale Saint Martin festival in Angers France.
After having served three seasons as concertmaster under maestro Isaac Karabtchevsky with the Orquestra Petrobras Sinfonica in Rio de Janeiro Brazil, Elissa has been invited as guest concertmaster with leading orchestra’s including the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Rouen Opera and as guest leader for new music ensembles such as Meitar Ensemble in Tel-Aviv.
Elissa’s passion for new music was sparked during her graduate degree at the Juilliard School when Pierre Boulez heard her perform his Anthèmes and invited her as concertmaster of his orchestra at the Lucerne Festival. She has since collaborated with internationally acclaimed composers, such as Kaija Saariaho, Beat Furrer, Georg Friedrich Hass and Tristan Murail.
Elissa’s latest commissions include a concerto by Theodore Wiprud on the theme of climate action to be premiered by the South Dakota Symphony and Conditions de Lumière, a spectralist concerto by Jérôme Combier, premiered with the Argento Ensemble in New York, the Cairn Ensemble in Paris, and the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne in Montreal.
Elissa’s concerto appearances include Philip Glass’s American Four Seasons (Orchestre National de Bretagne), Philippe Leroux’s d’Aller (Camerata Aberta in Sao Paulo), Anders Eliasson’s concerto (Arcos Chamber Orchestra at the Berlin Konzerthaus) and Nicolas Bacri’s Winter’s Night (Orchestre de l’Opéra de Massy).
Praised as “both an intrepid new music champion and a violin virtuoso” (textura music magazine), Sarah Plum has had a prolific career advocating for new music, commissioning composers and bringing contemporary music to a wider audience.
Personal Noise, Plum’s recent CD release of new music for violin and electronics, has been lauded as “a fantastic new release - a must have for everyone who loves meaningful sonic adventures” (Whole Note Magazine) and as “beguilingly imaginative with an engagingly adventurous sensibility” (Gramophone Magazine).
As a soloist Plum’s "consistently stunning” playing (Third Coast Digest) has been featured at festivals and venues worldwide, including Ankunft:Neue Musik Festival at the Berlin Hauptbahnhof, Quiet Cue Intermedia in Berlin, Center for New Music San Francisco, Spectrum NYC, Unruly Music at the Marcus Center (Milwaukee), Stanford University’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics as well as at residencies at UC Davis, Duke, Cal State Fullerton, James Madison University and others and as the featured guest soloist at conferences such as Third Practice and Electronic Music Midwest.
Recent concerts include a solo CD release concert on Constellation’s Frequency Series in Chicago, solo performances at the Ear Taxi Festival in Chicago, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival and chamber music performances with the Fulcrum Point Ensemble and the Zodiac Festival Ensemble in France.
Plum is in demand as a teacher and coach - recently as guest artist at Virginia Tech’s New Music and Technology Festival where she performed, taught and gave masterclasses for young composers and at Michigan State University where she presented masterclasses for soloists and chamber groups. This coming season she will be performing and teaching at residencies at the University of Iowa and Oakland University in Michigan.
Sarah Plum moved to Chicago in 2018 and since then has been active in local new music, playing with groups such as Dal Niente Ensemble, Fulcrum Point Ensemble and Access Contemporary Music as well as collaborations with numerous Chicago composers and performers. She is on the faculty at both the Music Institute of Chicago and their elite Academy program. Recently, the Luminos Trio, her group at the Academy, were semi-finalists in the Junior division of the 2023 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Plum was Professor of Violin and Viola at Drake University from 2007-2018.
Sarah Plum earned a DMA at SUNY Stony Brook, after graduate and undergraduate studies at Juilliard. Her gold medal at the International Stulberg Competition in 1983 launched her performance career.
Katrin Stamatis maintains an active career as a performer and educator. A native of New York City, she is currently principal second violinist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and a core member of the Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble. She has held previous positions with the Albany Symphony and Vermont Symphony, and has served on the faculties of Drake University, the University of Oklahoma, the Calhoun School and the Larchmont Academy of Music.
Katrin attended Barnard College, where she was enrolled in the joint program with Manhattan School of Music. As an undergraduate she was a founding member and President of the Bach Society of Columbia University. She received her Master’s Degree from Mannes College of Music. Her primary teachers include Peggy Klinger, Ik-Hwan Bae, and Nina Beilina.
Before moving to Oklahoma, Katrin led a successful freelance career in New York City that included concerts with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, a performance of the Brahms Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra with the Chelsea Symphony, and numerous engagements in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Miller Theater, the Guggenheim Museum and the Tenri Cultural Institute. In 2004, She was selected to perform under the baton of Charles Hazlewood in his award-winning production of U-Carmen at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
Recent collaborations have included an appearance with new music specialist and cellist Madeleine Shapiro, as well as with clarinetist David Shifrin in the world premiere of Quasi Una Fantasia by Christopher Theofanidis. In 2016, she toured with the International Orchestra of Puerto Rico.
Dr. Misha Galaganov has premiered more than thirty compositions for viola alone, viola with piano, and viola in chamber music, written for him by composers from Israel, Russia, Mexico, Peru, Belgium, Italy, Uruguay, and the USA. As Principal Viola of the Dallas Chamber Symphony, he has also premiered many pieces written for a small symphony orchestra and for string chamber ensembles.
Galaganov is the founder of numerous chamber music programs. He is coordinates New Music Ensemble program at TCU and is the founder of the “NME at the Modern Arts Museum” concert series.
Teaching activities have taken Galaganov to major conservatories around the world, and he has taught and performed in numerous European and American Festivals. His former viola and violin students can be found as principal players in orchestras, university teachers, soloists and chamber music performers.
In addition to teaching and performing, Galaganov has written articles for major string publications, including Strad, has served as a reviewer for American String Teachers Association magazine, and has given lectures and presentations at professional conferences. He is working on several research projects and has made transcriptions and arrangements. His last album, Charm, Passion, and Acrobatics was received with enthusiastic critical acclaim.
Galaganov is Professor of Viola and Chair of Strings at Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, TX. He has a violin performance degree from Russia; BM in Viola Performance from Israel; and Artist Certificate, MM, and DMA degrees from the USA. He plays on an old French viola by Mansuy a Paris with gut strings by Damian Dlugolecki.
Dr. Mark Neumann
Professor of Music (Viola)
Email: mneumann@ou.edu
Dr. Mark Neumann joined the faculty of the University of Oklahoma School of Music as viola professor in 2009. A native of Edmonton, Canada, his musical studies took place at the University of Victoria, The Cleveland Institute of Music, and The Juilliard School in New York, from which he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 1995. His principal teachers have included such eminent violists as Karen Tuttle (Professor, The Juilliard School), Robert Vernon (Principal Viola, The Cleveland Orchestra), and Jaroslav Karlovsky (Principal Viola, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra). Other renowned violists with whom he has worked in festival and masterclass settings include Kim Kashkashian, Barbara Westphal, Heidi Castleman, Donald McInnes, Gerald Stanick and Eric Shumsky.
Dr. Neumann’s versatile performing career has included appearances as soloist with the Victoria Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic and Thunder Bay Symphony orchestras in Canada, the symphony orchestras of Big Spring (Texas) and Rome (Georgia) in the USA, the Cusco Symphony Orchestra in Peru, and the Collegium Musicum of Straubing, Germany. As a chamber musician he has performed at the International Performance Symposium in Goiania, Brazil; the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria; the Victoria International Festival, the Banff Festival of the Arts, and the Pacific Rim Summer Festival in Canada; and at the Sarasota Music Festival and the “Academy of Music” at Ramapo College (New Jersey) in the USA. Among the artists with whom he has collaborated in chamber music are Robert Chen, Daniel Heifetz, Peter Winograd, Levon Ambartsumian, and Jose Maria Blumenschein (violin); Edgar Meyer and Milton Masciadri (double bass); Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, David Geber and Joshua Roman (cello); and David Shifrin (clarinet). Additionally, he has participated in broadcast recordings of chamber music for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and for Deutschland-Funk in Munich, Germany.
As an orchestral musician, Dr. Neumann has performed extensively with many professional ensembles including the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (as Assistant Principal Viola), the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra (as Principal Viola), the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony Orchestra and the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Ottawa, Canada. During the course of these orchestral activities he has participated in concert tours to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and 8 European countries, and has performed under such internationally-renowned conductors as Charles Dutoit, Zubin Mehta, Leonard Slatkin, David Zinman, Eduardo Mata, Sir Roger Norrington, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Zdenek Macal, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Eiji Oue, Gerard Schwartz, Mario Bernardi, Franz-Paul Decker, Trevor Pinnock, Hans Graf, and Krzysztof Penderecki among many others.
Dr. Neumann held previous faculty positions as viola professor at Texas Tech University and at the University of Georgia, and has presented numerous recitals and masterclasses in China, Taiwan, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, and across the USA. He has been a frequent faculty artist at music festivals in South America, including the Vale Veneto Winter Festival and the Santa Catarina Strings Academy in Brazil as well as the Cusco Music Festival in Peru, and was also an invited solo performer at the International Viola Congresses in Adelaide, Australia (2007) and Rochester, New York (2012). Additionally, he appeared as a solo performer at the 2016 American Viola Society (AVS) Festival in Oberlin, Ohio and the 2018 AVS Festival in Los Angeles, California, and presented lecture-recitals at the 2 most recent AVS Festivals in Columbus, Georgia (2022) and Los Angeles (2024). Another recent highlight was a visit to China in September 2024 to undertake an 8-day guest artist residency at the invitation of the Wuhan Conservatory of Music. Dr. Neumann’s solo CD album, entitled “Romantic Showpieces for Viola”, was released by the ACA Digital label of Atlanta, Georgia in 2009 to critical acclaim.
Currently, Dr. Neumann performs regularly as the violist of the Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble of Oklahoma City and as Assistant Principal Viola of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra. He maintains a widely active schedule as a performer, teacher and clinician in Oklahoma as well as nationally and internationally.
- DMA - The Juilliard School (1995)
- Professional Studies Certificate – Cleveland Institute of Music (1992-93; conferred 2023)
- Advanced Certificate - The Juilliard School (1989)
- MM (Performance) - University of Victoria (1987)
- BM (Performance) - University of Victoria (1983)
American cellist Jonathan Ruck maintains a multifaceted career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician and pedagogue. Praised for his “virtuosic command” and “full-bodied tone,” he has performed throughout North America, Europe, Australia and the Caribbean. Festival appearances include recent engagements at the Oregon Bach Festival, Sanibel Island Festival, OK Mozart, Unruly Music, and as principal cellist of the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico. Jonathan currently serves as the principal cellist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic.
An avid chamber musician, Jonathan Ruck is a core member of Brightmusic, Oklahoma City’s resident chamber music ensemble. He has performed as a guest cellist with the American Chamber Players and Penderecki String Quartet and given recent world-premiere performances of chamber works by Christopher Theofanidis and Sydney Corbett. As a founding member of the Dubinsky String Quartet, Jonathan was a prizewinner in the Fischoff and Coleman national chamber music competitions.
Jonathan Ruck joined the University of Oklahoma School of Music in 2006 as one of the youngest faculty appointees in the school’s history. Previous appointments include serving as the teaching assistant to both Janos Starker and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and a visiting professorship at the Depauw University School of Music. During the summer, he has enjoyed teaching on the faculties of the Fresno Summer Orchestra and Opera Academy (FOOSA), the Zodiac Festival in Southern France and the Indiana University Summer String Academy. In 2018, he founded the University of Oklahoma Summer String Academy and continues as its director. Graduates of Jonathan Ruck’s cello studio have been accepted to continue their studies at schools such as Juilliard, Indiana University, Eastman, Oberlin, and the Cleveland Institute of Music, and can be found in ensembles and on college and pre-college faculties throughout the world.
Jonathan Ruck currently lives in Norman, Oklahoma with his wife, violinist Katrin Statmatis, and their two daughters, Arianna and Galia.
Kasia Bugaj is an Associate Professor of Music Education at The Florida State University. At FSU, Dr. Bugaj teaches string techniques, string methods courses, and historical research; She is the director of the FSU Summer Orchestra Camp and the conductor of the Tallahassee Youth Orchestras Chamber Orchestra. Involved with the American String Teachers Association and the Florida Orchestra Association in many capacities, she is a frequent guest speaker, clinician, trainer, and conductor throughout the United States. In 2018-2019 she was a Fulbright Scholar at the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, Poland. In 2018 she was selected as the Collegiate Educator of the Year by the Florida Music Education Association.
Dr. Bugaj received her Ph.D. in Music Education from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She also has degrees from Western Michigan University, The Peabody Conservatory, and is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy. Prior to her appointment at FSU, Dr. Bugaj was the director of a curricular elementary violin program in Attica Indiana, taught violin and viola on the faculty of the Indiana University String Academy, and was a member of the viola sections of several regional orchestras in the Midwest.
Kasia lives in Tallahassee, FL with her husband Renato and their two children.
A native of Taichung, Taiwan, Anna En-Chi Ho has performed extensively in her home country and in many parts of the United States. Her piano studies began at the age of five as a private student of her uncle, Rev. Ching-Dao Ho, and continued with various private teachers in Taichung until 1991. After a year of academic studies at National Chung-Hsin University, Dr. Ho entered the Piano Performance program at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa in 1992 as a student of Dr. James March, graduating with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1995. Her musical studies continued with Dr. Todd Welbourne in the Master of Music program at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where she majored in Piano Performance and was extremely active as an accompanist in many instrumental studios of the School of Music.
Dr. Ho graduated with her master’s degree in Madison in December 1997, and returned to Taiwan in 1998 to take a position as orchestral pianist for the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra in Wu-Feng and to concertize as a member of the Formosa Chamber Music Ensemble. In 1999, she returned to the United States to pursue studies in the Doctor of Musical Arts program at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, where she majored in Collaborative Piano Performance as a student of Dr. William Westney. She received her DMA degree in December 2003.
Dr. Ho has collaborated in performance with many accomplished musicians from Canada, Taiwan, Korea, China, Venezuela, Brazil, Italy, Poland and the USA, and has performed in the master classes of such distinguished musicians as Charles Castleman, Paul Kantor, Emmanuel Pahud, Eugene Rousseau, Frank Morelli, Steven Isserlis, Philippe Quint and Gary Shocker. Dr. Ho now resides in Norman, OK, where she collaborates frequently as an accompanist with guest artists, and both students and faculty members of the University of Oklahoma School of Music.
Chinese pianist Jiapeng Xu has performed extensively across China, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He has been praised by renowned pianist and pedagogue Prof. Adam Wodnicki as a “wonderful musician with affection.” Xu has appeared in solo recitals at leading venues including Victoria Concert Hall, Lee Foundation Theatre and Esplanade Hall in Singapore, Voertman Concert Hall in University of North Texas, and Victory in War Memorial Hall in Kunming, China. He was featured as a soloist at the Royal College of Music–Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Showcase in London and served as a pre-concert pianist at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts’ 80th Anniversary Gala in Singapore. His artistic achievements have earned him numerous accolades, such as First Prize at the Blüthner International Piano Competition and the Best Schumann Performance Award at the Great Composer Competition.
Xu is also an active chamber musician and collaborative artist. Since 2023, he has held the position of principal orchestral pianist with the University of North Texas Wind Symphony and Wind Orchestra, performing regularly at the renowned Murchison Performing Arts Center. He has collaborated in chamber concerts at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, the Esplanade Recital Hall in Singapore. His work as a collaborative pianist includes engagements with choral and instrumental soloists across the United States, Singapore, and China. His ensemble contributions have been recognized with competitive scholarships, including the UNT Wind Ensemble Pianist Scholarship. In 2024, he was invited by Chinese film director Xiaoan Zhang to record the soundtrack for the short film Squirrel.
Xu received his early musical training in Singapore, earning a Diploma in Music from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. He later graduated with First Class Honors from the Royal College of Music (UK), and earned a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the University of North Texas. His principal piano teacher includes Professors Adam Wodnicki, Steven Harlos, John Byrne, Alexander Zolinsky, Nicholas Ong, Yu Chun-Yee. He is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance at the University of Oklahoma under the guidance of Dr. Jeongwon Ham, supported by a full tuition waiver and a graduate assistantship.
Zhengying Zhong is currently a DMA student in piano performance studying with Dr. Jeongwon Ham at the University of Oklahoma. She was born and raised in China and started her musical journey at the age of four. Later, she earned her bachelor’s degree from Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou, China, and her master’s degree from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She has performed in international capitals such as Guangzhou, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. She is also a pianist for OU Opera, accompanying staging rehearsals and operatic performances.
