FREE Courtroom Concert: ‘Trios in Motion’ with Miryana Moteva, piano, and Friends

Program: Trios in Motion
’Trios In Motion,’ a program featuring four 21st-century classical trios, reflects on the evolution of the traditional piano trio from its original form to the various shapes it takes today. Each work explores the concepts of time, movement, and continuity, offering the unique perspectives of four modern voices, setting ‘in motion’ new paths for Western art music.

Musicians: Alejandro Drago, violin; Audrey Q. Snyder, cello; Hannah Peterson, flute; Allison Akins, French horn; Anna Keiserman, piano; Miryana Moteva, piano

Alejandro Drago is a violinist, conductor, composer, and educator. Hailed by music critics as “a superb musician” with the “classical virtuosity of a Heifetz or Perlman,” his discography includes string quartets, concertos, and avant-garde tangos distributed internationally by EMI International label and Naxos Music Library Japan. Alejandro received a scholarship to study at the Moscow State Conservatory, where he obtained his Master of Fine Arts in Violin Performance and Pedagogy. In 2008, he received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Southern Mississippi. As a soloist and chamber musician, Alejandro has performed in world-class concert halls and toured extensively in Asia, Europe and the Americas. From 2005 to 2008, Alejandro was the Assistant Conductor of the Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and Chief Conductor of the Southern Mississippi Chamber Orchestra. He has appeared as a guest conductor with professional and youth orchestras in the USA, Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Romania. Presently, he is the Music Director of the Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra (GGFSO). Alejandro’s symphonic and chamber arrangements of Argentine music have been performed extensively in Europe, Latin America, and the United States. Highlights of recent seasons include recording his own Violin Concerto with the Chihuahua Philharmonic Orchestra in Mexico. His works are published by Filarmonika.com (Fort Worth, TX) and Eurindia Edizioni (Switzerland). He conducts masterclasses, seminars, lectures, and lecture-recitals extensively in Asia, Europe, and the United States. Alejandro teaches and performs regularly in festivals in Latin America, the US, and Europe. He has been a member of the jury in junior and senior international competitions in Russia, Europe, China, and the US. In July 2008, Alejandro joined the faculty at the University of North Dakota (UND) Department of Music as the Professor of Violin and Viola and Director of the UND Chamber Orchestra.You can follow Alejandro Drago on Instagram (@alejandro.drago.music), Facebook (@alejandrodragomusic) or YouTube (@AlejandroDrago).

Audrey Q. Snyder is a cellist, songwriter, and arranger based in the Twin Cities. She is an advocate of contemporary instrumental music. As a former core member of the Chicago-based Zafa Collective⏤ _a new music group founded with the idea of inclusivity (both in programming and performance) at its core⏤ _she performed at Constellation, Poetry Foundation, Fulton Street Collective, and others. In December 2019, Snyder produced, performed in and coordinated the live performance of New Music//New Film Collaborative, a year-long project that facilitated the creation of 5 new pieces with corresponding video art; all audio with video was released in 2020. She continues to play chamber music (both new and old) with Lake Pepin Chamber Music in Red Wing, MN.

As a pop and rock musician, Audrey performed with The Who as touring principal cellist on their Moving On! tour in 2019, for The Who Hits Back! 2022-2023 tour, and during their Teenage Cancer Trust shows at Royal Albert Hall in 2024. Under the simpler moniker Audrey Q, she has also written and recorded three of her own EPs, and in June of 2025 she released her first full length album, titled The Universe is Expanding and So Are You. Snyder also enjoys covering her favorite albums, and has presented live performances of her arrangements of Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush, Carole King’s Tapestry, and Peter Gabriel’s So.

As a theater musician, Audrey has played in professional productions of The Lion King, Mary Poppins, The Bridges of Madison County, Oklahoma!, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Oliver!. Audrey also subbed regularly on Hamilton: An American Musical during its 3-year stay in Chicago, and later toured with two other companies of the show from 2021 to 2023. In the Twin Cities, she has most recently appeared in pit bands at Artistry, History Theatre, and Children’s Theatre Company.

Audrey holds a B.M. and M.M. from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Alan Harris.

Hannah Peterson is Principal Flute of the Minnesota Opera Orchestra and Adjunct Professor of Flute at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University. She recently performed in the orchestra for Snoop’s Holiday Halftime Party on Netflix during the 2025 Christmas Day NFL game. She has previously held positions with the Des Moines Symphony, Orchestra Iowa, and the Duluth Superior Symphony. She maintains a busy chamber music calendar, which in the 2025-26 season include recitals at The Schubert Club, Marine Candlelight Concert Series, and Schmitt Music. She also appears regularly with the Minnesota Orchestra, including the 2022 recording of Mahler’s 8th Symphony and 2024 This is Minnesota Orchestra broadcast. In 2018 she was awarded first prize in the Upper Midwest Flute Association Young Artist Competition, and has won prizes in all three age divisions of the Bruce P. Carlson Student Scholarship Competition. Hannah has been selected twice as an MPR Class Notes Teaching Artist, and maintains a private teaching and audition coaching studio in Saint Paul, where she’s helped students prepare for auditions of all levels; from regional honor bands to professional orchestras.

Allison Akins, a Kansas City, Missouri native, holds a Masters degree in Horn Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music and a Bachelor’s degree in horn performance from The University of Kansas. An avid performer, she has worked with the Kansas City Symphony, Rochester (NY) Philharmonic Orchestra, and Opera Baltimore, and has been third horn of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra since the 2023-2024 season. Ms. Akins enjoys a rich freelance performance career in the Twin Cities, performing regularly with such local ensembles as The Minnesota Opera, The Minneapolis Pops, Music St. Croix, and 10th Wave Chamber Music Collective.

Russian-born pianist Anna Keiserman is known for her creative programming, expressive freedom, and singular vision. Performance credits in New York City include Le Poisson Rouge, the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and the Fête de La Musique. Other notable venues include the Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts (Toms River, NJ), the Nash Theatre (Raritan Valley Community College) the Strand Theater (Hudson Falls, NY) and the Ateneu Barcelonès (Barcelona, Spain).

Anna has toured through Italy, Spain and Russia. As a soloist she performed concerti with the Volgograd Symphony Orchestra (Russia), the University of Minnesota Symphony Orchestra and the Somerset Symphony Orchestra, among others. She has been awarded top prizes in piano competitions in Russia, and 2nd place in the 2019 American Prize Competition.

Anna has served as faculty at the NYU Steinhardt School of the Arts, at the Rutgers University Extension Division, and at William Paterson University. Having earned degrees from the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in Moscow and the University of Minnesota, Dr. Keiserman completed her Doctorate in Piano Performance at Rutgers University, where she earned the Elizabeth Wyckoff Durham Award for academic distinction and excellence in piano performance. In 2020-24 Anna served as an Assistant Professor of Piano at the Raritan Valley Community College before relocating to GA and joining the Music Department at the University of North Georgia as a Part Time Faculty member.

Miryana Moteva enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician and educator. She has recently appeared with Linden Hills Chamber Orchestra and Buffalo Community Orchestra. This season, she also makes her debut with Golden Valley Orchestra performing Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

Moteva collaborates regularly with musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra and SPCO. She has performed at Schubert Club’s Courtroom Concerts in Saint Paul, the Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York City, New Jersey’s Mozaika Music Series, University of Minnesota’s Balkanicus Series, University of Wisconsin, Hamline University, and the Basilica of Saint Mary. She has concertized with the Isles Ensemble and 10th Wave Music Collective. Her performances have been featured on Classical MPR and NPR’s ‘From the Top.

Moteva has dedicated a significant part of her career to commissioning and performing music by living composers. Recent highlights include the Midwest premiere of Clarice Assad’s Piano Concerto ‘Lilith’ and the commission of Marc Migó‘s Sonata for Violin and Piano ‘Death and Spring,’ which was met with great acclaim at Schubert Club’s Courtroom Concerts and led to an invitation to record a Catalan Music CD on the IBS Classical Music Label.

Moteva has appeared at festivals such as ‘March Music Days,’ and ‘Music and Earth’ in Bulgaria, and ‘San Daniele International Piano Meeting’ in Italy. She serves on the faculty of MacPhail Center for Music and on the Music Education Committee at Schubert Club.

Moteva holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance, and a Doctorate in Collaborative Piano from the University of Minnesota. Her principal teachers include Emma Tahmizian, Lydia Artymiw, and Timothy Lovelace.