FREE Courtroom Concert: featuring Bethany Summersgill, flute; Inna Staneva, flute; Laura Sewell, cello; Jared Waln, guitar; Chantalle Falconer, piano

The Two Flutes and Friends group is comprised of colleagues who met playing together in a variety of settings. Inna Staneva and Bethany Summersgill both formerly studied with Helen Blackburn of the Dallas Opera Orchestra, who introduced them when Inna moved to the Twin Cities area fairly recently. They got together to play duets and decided to explore some new repertoire, augment the fun by adding some great colleagues on other instruments, and put on a show together!

Dr. Bethany Summersgill (flute) performs regularly in a variety of settings, including as a frequent substitute/extra musician with Minnesota Orchestra, Minnesota Opera Orchestra, and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. She previously held positions in South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, La Crosse Symphony, Chione Quintet, and Winona Symphony and played frequently with Minnesota Sinfonia. She also enjoys playing baroque traverso flute.

Bethany teaches privately and at the University of St. Thomas. She loves working with students of all ages and levels. She is currently writing a pedagogical book and has received multiple grants to support this project. She and Andrea Myers co-created a scholarship program through Upper Midwest Flute Association. Bethany holds degrees in flute performance from the University of Southern California, Northwestern University, and the University of Minnesota. In her spare time, she loves to garden (especially fruits and vegetables), spend time outside (walking, biking, hiking, running, kayaking), or curl up with a book (if it’s too cold). Learn more: www.BethanySummersgill.com.

Dr. Inna Staneva (flute) has performed extensively as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician in Europe and the United States. Her artistic work focuses on presenting culturally diverse and underrepresented repertoire, often through engaging lecture-recitals that explore cross-cultural influences in 20th- and 21st-century music.

She recently relocated to the Twin Cities metro area, where she continues to perform, teach, and contribute to the region’s vibrant musical community. Through performance and scholarship, Dr. Staneva is committed to broadening the flute canon and amplifying voices that remain underrepresented on American concert stages.  Learn more: www.innastaneva.com

Dr. Chantalle Falconer (piano) works as a collaborative pianist and vocal coach based in the Twin Cities. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano Performance and Vocal Coaching from the University of Minnesota. With training in piano, voice, and violin, she brings a multifaceted perspective to collaborative performance, with particular interests in contemporary repertoire and multidisciplinary projects.

An active freelance musician throughout the region, Chantalle regularly performs in concerts, competitions, auditions, and premieres of new works by living composers. She serves as pianist for the Oratorio Society of Minnesota under Artistic Director Matthew Mehaffey and maintains a private piano and voice studio, where her creative, whole-person approach to teaching encourages ownership and artistry in her students.

Jared Waln (guitar), is an award-winning classical guitarist and music educator in the Twin Cities. Receiving his master’s degree in music education at the University of St. Thomas, Jared is the director of the award-winning guitar program at Southwest High School, and director of guitar and music professor at the University of St. Thomas. His career is primarily in music education; however, as a union musician he performs with the Minnesota Opera, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, Lakes Area Music Festival, Sioux City Symphony, Chanhassen Dinner Theater, the Ordway, the Orpheum, and additional musical theaters all around the Twin Cities.

Jared was recently involved in a recording project with 10-time Grammy winner Blanton Alspaugh and SoundMirror performing the music of Kyle Pederson with Transept. Jared also recently performed a world premiere guitar concerto, Unfretted, composed by James Stephenson and performed with the Grand Symphonic Winds. Jared was an original teaching artist for the Guitar in Our Schools program with MGS, teaching an adaptive guitar program for special education students at White Bear Lake High School. Jared is also a council member of the National Association of Music Education, NAfME, and represents the North Division for guitar education.

Laura Sewell (cello) has performed in Europe, Asia, Canada, and throughout the United States. Locally she has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Opera, Guthrie Theatre, Minnesota Beethoven Festival, Dale Warland Singers, Cantus, and numerous chamber ensembles. Radio appearances have included “A Prairie Home Companion” and “Saint Paul Sunday.”

For the past twenty years she has been a member of the Minneapolis-based Isles Ensemble, and she recently recorded a CD on the Innova label of works by Minnesota composers for cello and piano. Earlier in her career, Laura was the founder of the award-winning Lark Quartet, which was the bronze medal winner in the Banff International String Quartet Competition. She has performance degrees from the Juilliard School and the Cleveland Institute of Music.